Journey's End
by Piccolo Sky
Summary: Link x Malon. It's been seven years since Malon watched the mysterious fairy boy ride off on Epona. When he literally rides back into her life, she sees he's been scarred both physically and emotionally by events she can only dream of. Healing wounded horses has been a lifelong challenge for the rancher girl. Can she heal a wounded soul? Cover image by Onimyaah on DeviantArt.


CREDIT: The cover art for this fanfiction is called "Song of Tears" and it is used with permission by Onimyaah on DeviantArt dot com.

Hey everyone. As in the past two years, I wrote a fanfic for my friend for Christmas. She challenged me yet again with one of my hardest topics: romance. She requested a shipping between Link and Malon from "The Legend of Zelda". Luckily, that's one I endorse even more than Link and Zelda, especially for "Ocarina of Time". And so, here we go. Hopefully I did a good job on it.

Enjoy and Happy 2016!

NOTE: Yes, this should probably be broken into chapters, but all of the segments are either too short or too long for one and the story itself is novella length... Sorry. :(

* * *

"Come on, Shanna. Be a good girl."

The coal black horse gave much the same response it usually did when intoned to go out to pasture, which was to say none at all. She simply stood in her stall and kept her head down.

Malon couldn't help but frown after this time. She tried to make her voice sweeter and calmer. "These are some really good oats. You'll like them. How about taking a nibble or two, hmm?"

Shanna didn't react. She blinked once before turning her head slightly away.

The young woman sighed a bit. Not giving up just yet, she reached over into the feeding trough and scooped out a small fistful. Afterward, she pulled open the stall door and stepped inside. She could have pulled it shut behind her, but she elected against it. Shanna never tried to go anywhere, after all. She walked right up to the horse and took up a bit of the oats with her opposite hand, putting them in her own mouth and pretending to chew.

"Mmm! See? Even I like them! Couldn't you try a couple today?"

The horse only turned her head away even more.

Malon sighed. "I can't keep bringing you apples, Shanna. You need to really eat."

Still no reaction.

The young woman sighed once again. She actually leaned over and placed the oats on a bit of wood paneling that stuck out, closer to her face. She gave a half-smile to the mare. "Just in case you change your mind. There's plenty more in your trough."

Turning away, the rancher girl headed back out of the stall, shut the door behind her, and then began to make for the stable entrance. The truth was even if Shanna _could_ live off of apples, which she couldn't, she wasn't eating them as much as she used to either. The horse was looking more emaciated every day. It wouldn't be long before they'd have to try and file her teeth down due to lack of use. And if she was so reluctant to eat in the first place, there was no telling what kind of fight that would be. But there was nothing for it. Maybe later she could try singing to her again, but for now she needed to tend to the rest of the horses and then get to milking the cows; not to mention make sure that Mr. Ingo was feeding the cuccos enough. The egg yield had been growing light lately and Talon hadn't been paying much attention until it started looking like some of the cuccos might be "fryer material".

Yet as she walked out, she found herself doing one thing she often did nowadays whenever she walked into or out of the stable...

Gazing toward one empty stall that had long since been swept and cleaned from lack of use.

* * *

"Malon!"

The rancher girl stopped singing on hearing her name being called. As odd as it may have seemed to outsiders, the cattle and horses always seemed to eat more eagerly and romp about in a more frisky manner when she sang her mother's song to them. By now it was practically a habit, since she had done so ever since she was little. At any rate, she still sang soft enough to hear when her voice was called, and she turned her head to the fence for the corral and saw Mr. Ingo, bucket in one hand and pitchfork balanced over the shoulder strap of his overalls in the other, looking in at her.

"Where's that mustang*? She not coming out today either?"

The red-haired young woman frowned a bit on hearing the tone. While Mr. Ingo had long since ceased his normally crass and distempered tone he used to carry about him all the time, he still sounded rather grouchy about a lot of things on the ranch from time to time. One of them had to deal with whatever animals there were "misbehaving". Malon had always feared that if the worst had happened and he had become in charge of the ranch back in her younger days, when he always used to rant and brood about how he deserved it for being so hard-working, that the horses, cuccos, and cattle would have been abused under his care. To this day he had little patience for other creatures, which was why he was normally stuck doing manual labor. He had "that tone" now regarding Shanna.

The young woman sadly shook her head. "Not today. I brought her some nice oats, though. I'm sure she'll eat those once she's left alone for a bit."

Beneath his thick, twisted mustache, the man frowned. "Waste of time…and rupees too, if you ask me. Feeding her oats that'll just rot in the trough…" He grumbled before turning away. "She's getting thinner by the day now. Better off selling her for glue…"

"Don't say that!" Malon found herself shouting back, showing a rare trace of genuine anger in her voice. "She just needs time, that's all!"

"Not every wounded animal story has a 'happy ending', you know." Ingo grumbled back as he kept walking. "That's life. Especially with dumb creatures like horses."

Malon frowned a bit more, but she didn't bother arguing. It did no good, and it was hard enough for two people alone to essentially run the entire ranch; what with how little Talon helped out. She didn't need to be spurring any bad blood with their sole farmhand. Nevertheless, she went quiet as she began to head back to the barn, knowing it was nearly time for the next cow milking.

The "dumb creatures like horses" comment made her think of the missing mare once again, as well as the boy who had taken her.

It had been a good seven years at this point since she had last seen either of them. It was a such a strange time. Everyone felt as if the weeks around that date had been odd. Like there had been something in the air all along. Everything had looked normal enough, but there was something about the way the water ran down the rivers and streams, or how the sun shone down in the sky, or even how the wind blew. There was a time in which everything had seemed to hang heavy with the feeling of a bad omen. It had come and gone eventually, yes, and nowadays there were some bold enough to laugh at everyone worrying in the first place. But not many. For most, it seemed all too real.

That was when Malon had met him. The "fairy boy".

The day started off like too many of her days did. Talon had delivered some fresh milk to the castle only to not return on time, leaving Malon to go and fetch him. She had gotten turned back at the gate, unfortunately, and that's where she ran into him. She still remembered how much she thought he had to be a forest child, because he dressed all in green and had a fairy floating around his head, just like the legends of the Kokiri did. Fairies were rare but not so rare that one would scream and run on seeing one or even accost an individual for having one floating about, but Malon knew full well fairies either flew away or did a small kindness before leaving…unless, of course, you happened to be able to catch one in a bottle or net or the like. They didn't just "float around" you unless you were one of those Kokiri, although she didn't recall the proper name at the time, just calling him the "fairy boy".

He didn't strike her at all as how one of those forest children might act. She heard stories about how they were always young and carefree, always giggling and playing silly games, and making light of the sufferings of those who aged. He seemed far more serious. Far more dedicated. She never did find out why he was trying to go to the castle that day, but when she saw he intended to go in even if it meant breaking and entering, she ended up enlisting his help in getting Talon home. He obviously succeeded, because it wasn't long after Malon herself went back that Talon came rushing in, and she found herself giving what had to have been the eight hundredth scolding for being too lazy, with as little impact as all the others.

She saw him again not long after. He stopped by apparently after being invited by Talon. It was then he caught her singing her mother's song to the horses, and in particular one pony. Even at that young age, Epona seemed to have all the fierceness and power of a full-grown adult. She had a fire and spirit so strong that it wasn't long after that meeting she was able to bear young riders, although such was almost a moot point. Epona's own mother had died giving birth to her from complications, and ever since she came out she had a temper about her. She always ran away from her handlers and caretakers. She'd kick and bite at the other horses. It was only by singing that song that she even behaved enough to be weaned to start grazing on her own, but after that she'd always run from the rancher's daughter.

Mr. Ingo had said she wouldn't be surprised if she had killed her mother coming out, and that the horse was useless. She was too ill-tempered even to breed, let alone ride. And while Malon didn't like him talking about her like that, as time wore on she found herself being forced to agree. She was just too much of a wild mare at heart. She seemed to hate even being in the corral, instead wanting to get out of the ranch and run the plains. The ranch wasn't a charity or shelter. It needed to sell horses to ride or breed, or the horse was no use to them. And she feared that they could do nothing with Epona at this rate.

Yet when the fairy boy had shown off that he had a wooden ocarina, Malon got the idea to teach him her mother's song to him. And she didn't know if it was the ocarina or the fairy boy himself, but for the first time ever since the horse had left the womb, Epona approached someone when he played. She actually nuzzled him and was even cordial and friendly. Malon had never seen anything like it before. It wasn't so much Epona "coming out of her shell" or learning to behave. It was more as if, almost, the pony had seen something in the fairy boy. As if he was her destiny…

From that day on, Epona changed in a peculiar way. The fairy boy only stopped by a few more times, but every time she would be happy to see him. What more, she started to "behave". She ate when fed and actually consented to be run through the various exercises to get her ready for bearing a rider. Yet although she learned them all as well as any horse, to Malon's surprise she still wouldn't take a rider. She'd start snorting, move out of the way, or even kick whenever anyone tried to mount her. Although everyone was initially happy that Epona had started to look tamer, now they were beginning to fear she was once again too wild. Ingo once again said this was the horse's nature. Talon…well…he didn't seem to care too much.

But a strange thought had entered Malon's head at that time.

What if Epona was actually saving herself for the fairy boy?

Malon thought of that progressively more as she led Epona through the exercises every day, figuring it would still be some time before he would finally act on that claim. But as it turned out, such wasn't the case. Epona wasn't even old enough for a proper saddle when he came back for the last time.

She knew something was off the moment she saw him. The fairy was gone, for one thing, but it was more than that. The boy suddenly looked a lot older. More weather-worn. More tired. Like she was looking at a much more world-weary individual. It almost stunned her. The youthful energy and look the boy once held about him had faded quite a bit. But even more unusual was what he did next. He went right up to her and asked to have Epona.

Lon Lon Ranch was just that: a ranch. They had never just given away a horse before and they never would. Such was insanity considering how much effort went into raising them and breaking them. Yet the way the fairy boy spoke to her, it was as if he already knew she'd say yes before he asked the question, and that Epona would go with him as well. And apparently he was right in his assumption, because Malon did as he asked. The fairy boy mounted right on up as if he had done it a hundred times before and rode off on her, and what more, without saddle or bridle, Epona obeyed him.

Naturally, she had some explaining to do. Mr. Ingo, who had complained so many times that the horse couldn't be sold, suddenly was furious that she let one go for free. Even Talon couldn't ignore something like that. As for an explanation, she found she had little to give. She could have claimed that she saw the "connection" between the two when they first met; that the fairy boy was the only individual who Epona would ever approach. Yet she doubted that was it. There was something about the way he spoke to her, and even how he showed up. There was a moment, she could almost swear, as if this was destiny. Even that the whole purpose of her life right then was to give him that horse.

Seven years had passed since then. She had never housed a single horse in Epona's old stable, no matter how many came and went over the years. She had only been seven herself at the time. She supposed she should have been impressed she could even remember that day so clearly. She had forgotten many other things from that time, after all. Yet in her mind's eye she could still see the fairy boy getting on Epona and watching the mare go into a run one last time. She never even asked why he needed her or where he was going. Just like that, the fairy boy came and went out of her life. Almost as if he really was a fairy himself.

What was really weird, however, is she knew why she really kept that stable clean. Why she kept looking out day after day past the fence of the farm and to the vastness of Hyrule Field, and always to the Southwest; the same direction the boy went all those years ago. For some reason, though she knew they couldn't have spoken to each other for what amounted to a full hour, she believed both he and Epona would come back one day.

It was silly, to be sure. And over the years as she matured she told herself just how silly it was. She didn't even know him, and every time she went to Castle Town or Kakariko Village, no one had seen or heard from him or Epona. And if they did, what then? Why return to the ranch?

After a while, Malon shook her head. She found she had actually stopped walking to the stalls and was just standing there daydreaming. Quickly she resumed her pace. With just her and Mr. Ingo doing most of the work on the ranch, she couldn't afford to stall long. It had been a while since she had done so, but…that one troublesome horse. She got her thoughts back on the "fairy boy" once again.

As she reached the barn door, she couldn't help but fantasize again about whatever happened to him…

* * *

Sleep was a precious thing at Lon Lon Ranch, just as with any ranch or farm. From sunup to sundown there was work to be done, and most of it was exhausting and tiring. Where people in Castle Town or Kakariko Village might have been willing to burn a bit of the oil, everyone at the ranch was not only in bed at sundown, but they were more than happy to be there.

Nevertheless, it didn't mean that one could always sleep, even if physically exhausted. Such was the case for Malon that evening.

The day had been unusual. It seemed like ever since her latest failed attempt with Shanna, her mind had gone fully to the fairy boy. She knew she devoted at least some of her thoughts to him every day, but it had been a while since he had just lodged in her mind. She wasn't even thinking about anything in particular to him. Just when he left that last time, taking Epona with him. He didn't even look over his shoulder as he rode off, so she wondered why she would think so much of him now. In all likelihood, although it was a grim thought, the boy was likely dead. He had to be only seven himself at that time and he was riding to Gerudo Valley and, beyond it, the Gerudo Desert. No one crossed that and came back to talk about it. And yet, she focused so much on him she ended up unable to sleep at all. She simply lay awake, fully alert, and not even feeling the need to close her eyes.

At length, Malon got up. Nights passed rather slowly when all you did was lie in bed waiting for daylight, after all. And while there was no work to be done now, she realized she simply wanted to do something. And so she dressed herself in her "rancher's shawl", slipped her shoes on, and then slowly tiptoed downstairs and out of the house. She wasn't so worried about waking up Talon. Nothing short of a cucco's crow would shake him out of his own naps. But she could do without getting Mr. Ingo's ire by waking him up, and the farmhouse certainly was old enough to creak quite a bit. Slowly making her way downstairs, she went to the back door, opened it, and stepped outside.

It was still early Spring and rather chilly at night, with Malon's breath just faintly misting as it left her lips. But this was nothing to her. She had long since grown accustomed to it. The idea of a waxing and waning moon was a foreign concept to Hyrule. The moon was full every night, all night. The end result made it a bit "safer" to walk around at night than it would have been, but not much, especially since Hyrule Field was plagued by the souls of literally thousands of the dead who had been lost in the last war for domination of the realm. One literally couldn't walk out there without risking one or multiple suddenly bursting from the soil and lumbering after them. They were fairly easy to deal with, fortunately. After all, Stalchilds were nothing more than animate skeletons without weapons. A good solid strike from an adult could shatter them. Yet that didn't mean one should go out looking to pick a fight with them unless they had no other choice.

Lon Lon Ranch was safe from the lost souls as there had never been any fighting on the hillock where it was located, but it had hazards of its own. On the far side of the ranch, flocks of guay swarmed at the night hours. Approaching that end would soon set many of the predatory birds on you. Yet Malon wasn't too worried. While they were a threat, they weren't anything fatal so long as you didn't offer yourself as a target for too long. Besides, she could use the practice with her own shortbow to see how many of them she could fend off. Being able to drive away or slay predators was another good skill to have on a ranch, and one that always needed sharpening. Perhaps it would excite her or tire her enough to get some sleep.

It only took a few minutes to creep to the barn, open it up, tiptoe quietly enough to avoid waking any of the cattle in the stalls, and fetch her bow and arrows. She had to be pretty careful. The guay could be dangerous and even deadly if she excited too many of them, but she also didn't want to lose many arrows due to expense so she couldn't afford to shoot too recklessly. Once she had them, she moved back outside, shut the door, and then began the walk toward the main corral. There was a heavy set of iron gates there, but they were never closed. Not when the horses tended to sleep indoors. They'd likely have to oil them next spring when the stables grew overcrowded and they were forced to move some out into the field. Once that was done, she began to make her way over to the far side.

The best way to approach the "flocking area" at this time of night was to first go straight out to the fenced corral area, and then walk around it. As clockwise was shorter, as soon as Malon reached the beaten dirt path that had long since been packed down from running the horses around the track, she began to make her way in that direction. Her breath misted a bit more thickly here although it wasn't too uncomfortable. The moon was bright and distinct from the clear night sky, and as she ventured further away from the house she could see the stars more and more clearly. Crickets were chirping here and there, but that was soon blocked out by the cawing of the guays in the distance. A bit further on and she started to catch the occasional one flapping through the night sky. Not quite close enough for her own poor marksmanship to hit yet, however, even if she could pull the bow that taut to hit them, which she couldn't.

One of the nice things about the hillock that Lon Lon Ranch was located on was that the rock formations around it formed a partial "wall" already for the grounds, so that only a certain length of fence had to be built. As Malon walked around, she came up on the first stretch of wall that led all the way to a rock pinnacle, where they had built a storage shed. All along the way the flocks of guays grew in number, but you could also see far out across Hyrule Field for miles, especially since this part of the ranch was on a higher elevation. The landscape probably would have made a better fort than a ranch in earlier times, but that mattered little to her. All it mattered to her was an impressive view.

As she kept walking along, rather than focus more on the guays as she should have, her gaze turned out further. That was the direction she watched the fairy boy leave all those years ago. From here, during the day one could just make out the dead tree and barbed fencing marking the route to the Gerudo Valley. Right now, as Malon grew closer, she could just barely make out a hint of the tree. She squinted as she walked along, trying to get a better look. As she did, she began to fantasize. He had left during the day, but she could almost swear the objects she saw out on the field now, hazy from the darkness, was him still riding away. She thought she could almost see the horse with him on it… That one object in particular…it looked a lot like the two, although as she got closer it seemed to be a much larger horse instead, with the rider on the back slumped rather than sitting erect. Almost remarkably like it, in fact…

Yet when she got just a bit closer, she suddenly slowed.

She realized she wasn't fantasizing. She _was_ seeing a horse and rider. It was an older horse, and the rider was sprawled out on the back of it. What more, it wasn't riding away. It was coming closer.

Almost the same time she made her realization, the guay flocking around seem to make the same conclusion. A number of them suddenly changed their path and began to fly out after the horse. On watching them go, even from this distance, Malon's experience told her that the horse had picked up on them approaching. A horse at full gallop could easily escape them, but the horse only maintained a trot.

She knew there was only one reason a well-trained and loyal horse would do that.

Its rider was barely holding on and it was afraid of losing him or her.

Whoever was on that horse was in danger.

Malon went wide-eyed at the realization, before she immediately turned around and bolted back for the farmhouse. The only way in and out of the ranch was the natural causeway leading to the main gates. It made more sense to yell for the others to hopefully wake them up to get to them faster, or maybe even go and see if she could ride a horse bareback out to meet up with the incoming rider, but Malon wasn't always the most prudent of individuals. She only realized someone was in trouble and ended up doing the more reckless thing she could have done, which was run all the way back to the entrance, charge down the hill as fast as she could, through the rock pass, and then start running out onto Hyrule Field, heedless of the fact that the Stalchilds would still be a problem or that if the guay flocked she could do little about it. She only tried to run out to meet up with the horse.

The distance alone made it take a while, but by the time Malon was running around the hillock, she noticed that the incoming horse seemed to anticipate her. It actually looked like it was running out to meet her.

Malon actually paused on seeing that. _It's like the horse knows where to go…_

She snapped out of it soon enough. No sooner had the horse come around trotting as fast as it could than she noticed that three guay, probably just three out of a flock, were right behind. Quickly, Malon ran out to the incoming horse, hoping to guide it back toward the front entrance. She didn't bother trying to shoot at them although she still had her bow. She wasn't _that_ good to avoid hitting an incoming animal and its rider. The two reached each other a moment later, and Malon, hoping it recognized commands from a handler, began to call out to the horse to lead her in.

Luckily, it seemed that wasn't necessary either. The horse actually fell in beside her, only slowing enough to get her alongside the rider to keep the individual from falling, and then quickly took off a bit faster to keep up. Malon was again surprised. This horse obviously wasn't wild, but she didn't know of an unfamiliar horse taking to her so easily. She dismissed that as well for now, quickly leading the horse in and reaching a hand out to put on the rider. Not really taking care to get a good look at him or her right now, all she picked up in the darkness for the moment was that the rider was very warm. The rest of her attention was getting back as fast as possible.

Now that the horse was able to pick up a bit more speed, they were able to outpace the guay. The birds could keep up very well, but they tended to slow almost to a hover in order to attack. The big-beaked creatures were left pecking at empty air as Malon led the horse and rider back to and up the causeway. She lost a shoe on the way but didn't go back for it. Luckily she was acclimated to running in bare feet around the ranch along with footwear. The birds continued to pursue them all the way through the rocky pass.

Finally, the three came under the shadow of the roofs of the stable and farmhouse. Malon led the horse right to the stable, but there was forced to stop for a few precious moments while she undid the gate. Remarkably enough, the horse wasn't spooked although it gave a chance for the guays to catch up, and even for a few of them to dive bomb them. Malon had to grit her teeth and swing one hand over her head to try and fend hers off. The horse itself pranced and snorted, trying to stay away as best as it could, but didn't bolt for it. While swinging at her own, Malon suddenly gave a sharp cry. Its beak had managed to catch one of her fingers and snap enough to draw blood. Luckily the rancher was accustomed to pain from little injuries like that. A Guay could easily take an entire finger off in the right situation, after all. Finally, the door was undone and, with a bit of elbow grease on her part, slid open.

The cows began to moo loudly on suddenly being disturbed by the commotion, but the horse immediately went in. Malon quickly ducked inside as well and pulled the door shut again, taking off her shawl and swinging it out to try and smack away any guay getting in. One bird got a wing in, but a quick snap from the fabric made it caw and retreat. Soon after, the door slammed shut. The angry birds continued to peck and scrape at it for a moment, but Malon knew from experience they'd give up in moments. Sure enough, it hadn't been ten seconds before the scraping stopped and the sound of flapping faded. They were in the clear.

Only now did Malon notice how fast her heart was beating and realize just how stupid that had just been. She should have tried to call out for help or used shouting to drive the horse in rather than gone out to her. If it had been more than a few guay and they had flanked her, she could have been in bad shape herself. She ironically felt more fearful at this point than she did before, but after swallowing twice and composing herself, she managed to push it back.

"Alright…that's over…" She exhaled. "Let's see who-"

Malon had scarcely begun to turn around when she found herself cut off. The horse, once again acting as if it knew her already, had already walked back up to her and pressed its nuzzle to her shoulder. The girl was a bit taken aback by this, but out of instinct quickly reached out to take whatever bridle it had. However, as her hand glanced by the horse's face, she saw there was none. The rider…at least, when the rider had been able…had to have driven the horse with legs alone. Still, as she reached out with her other hand for the door lamp, she began to think that this was no longer just familiarity with humans. The way the horse came up to her so readily, it had to have been one that was previously owned by the ranch. It had to have known who she was.

Yet that was nothing compared to her surprise when, a few moments later, she got both hands free to light up the lamp and cast a yellow glow in the stable.

The horse was a mare. One that looked stronger with more tight and powerful muscles than most, if all, horses she had ever seen. The reddish tint to the coat, which was definitely dirty and ungroomed at this point, not to mention marked with numerous abrasions and scrapes where objects had either run against the horse or had tagged her, was a color that had lodged solidly in her memory. So was the cream-colored mane the horse had on top of it. While she was much older now, Malon's memory from seven years past began to register. The way she tapped the one hoof. The way she shook her head. Even the way she looked straight at her rather than away as most horses would.

Malon was almost afraid to speak it aloud, as if this was some sort of vision or spell that would break if she did.

"Epona?"

The horse didn't vanish, but she did perk up her ears. The mare recognized her name spoken by her former handler, even if both had gotten considerably older and larger.

That was all the confirmation she needed. Malon couldn't believe it. It _was_ her; the one horse she thought she'd never see again. Not since the day she went off with the fairy boy on her back.

 _Wait…_

 _But…that means…_

Malon almost forgot Epona as she shifted her eyes to the back of the horse. The form laying across it hadn't moved during the entire run to the ranch. Now that she finally got a look at it in some light, she saw that aside from some tattered, undersized clothing there was mostly just rags and whatever old, long-worn-out clothing the rider could find to put on him.

Yet through all of that, she could make out one quality of the original attire.

Green color.

Quickly, the girl took up the lantern and went to Epona's side. The figure on the back didn't budge or lift his head at all. From this close, his skin was so white it looked almost ashy, and as she reached out to his shoulder and placed her hand on it, she could feel the unnatural amount of heat coming off of him as she slowly turned his head.

Her jaw nearly dropped on seeing him again after seven years.

* * *

It was morning by the time the nearest apothecary had arrived. Talon had suggested getting him himself, but Malon had deferred the responsibility to Mr. Ingo. For once, she couldn't risk her father falling asleep on the job. Not with the condition the boy was in.

It hadn't been long after seeing his face last night that she went to wake up her father and the farmhand. Between the three of them, they managed to get Epona stalled and the boy off of her back. Only around that time did Malon notice Epona was a bit on the thin side herself, and she dug into the hay they provided for her with almost ravenous delight. Yet she was far better off than the fairy boy had been.

There were no spare beds at Lon Lon Ranch. Visitors usually got a pile of hay with some blankets or the floor. As a result, Malon had gone ahead and volunteered her own bed. The boy needed it. On picking him off Epona, they saw he was emaciated. His flesh and muscle seemed all but gone, with his skin clinging to his skeleton showing bones that were never meant to be seen. He almost looked like his joints were starting to erode. He was indeed both pale-faced and burning up; the sure signs of a fever. He stank terribly, like he hadn't bathed in weeks…or longer. He had a few scrapes and injuries here and there. Nothing to worry about so long as they were properly cleaned and bound, but unfortunately they had been neither. Now they looked infected. He wouldn't regain consciousness, and when Malon tried to offer him some of the bread they had from last night he wouldn't chew it. When she gave him water, he choked on it, barely seeming to have the strength to cough it up. When she finally managed to get him to take a few sips, his throat and mouth barely moved as he swallowed. He almost looked like a living corpse, and he would have seemed as such if not for how hot he was.

No one lived out on a ranch or farm with just a few people and didn't know at least a few things to do for a fever. Malon had been continuously wetting his head with a cold cloth when the apothecary arrived, and had been hoping to try out some warm milk when she was relieved.

Now, standing in the adjacent hall, she couldn't help but pace to and fro, thinking about what had just happened. It was really him. Older as he looked and as sickly and wretched as he was, literally a shell of his former self, she _knew_ it was him. She had no idea where he had been or why he had come back, but it was him. And in all honesty, she felt a little excited by it in spite of his terrible shape. It reminded her of those days seven years ago when everything had seemed a little "off", but also a little more magical. Not to mention that for seven long years she had been fantasizing about him coming back one day. And while this wasn't exactly how she had imagined it, the fact that he had indeed returned made her feel strangely joyful. She realized now she wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know where he had been with Epona. What things the two of them had seen and what they had done. More than that, she wanted to ask things she hadn't when she was a little girl, like where he came from in the first place. And why his fairy was gone…

The door to Malon's room creaked, snapping the rancher girl out of her daydreaming. Not only her, but Talon, who for once had stayed awake as he sat in a chair nearby, also turned and rose. Mr. Ingo was already back at the ranch, having left mumbling something about how things didn't stop just because they had a sick kid in the house. Malon had to admit there was still the morning chores to take care of and she probably should have helped, but for the first time she could remember, she felt like putting it aside for a bit. She wanted to know about the boy.

The apothecary slowly walked out. Bent over and twisted, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world for him. His expression was hidden behind a thick mustache and beard, so it was impossible to tell immediately what the verdict was from facial body language alone. He walked all the way out and faced both before stopping.

"So…how is he, doc?" Talon asked after a moment.

The apothecary slowly inhaled and exhaled, the latter part sounding like a sigh. On hearing that, Malon felt her own enthusiasm begin to fade. She realized the look he had was not an optimistic one, or even the look one would get if they were about to say he'd be bedridden for a week, or a month, for that matter. He looked up to Talon somberly.

"…I'll save you the trouble and let the coroner know to come by early tomorrow on my way back."

All remaining joy vanished as Malon's eyes widened. "Wh…what? But…but he's not dead!"

"He'll be that way soon enough, young lady." The old man grimly answered.

The rancher girl began to quiver. A fear greater than that of the guay sank into her. "But that…that can't be! You gave him a potion, didn't you? He only needs one and he'll be back on his feet, right?"

The apothecary sighed again as he slowly shook his head. "Young lady, there are some things in this world even the best-made potions can't cure. For that matter, there are some things even fairy magic can't cure. This young man's condition has been deteriorating for weeks. Months, probably. He's going through starvation. He's to the point where his body is eating his own cartilage. Even if he wasn't sick, he'd barely keep anything down at this point. And he _is_ sick, with a fever the likes of which I've seen kill boys his age who were perfectly healthy. Add to that fact that he's got at least four different kinds of infection and I'm honestly surprised he's still breathing. The best you can do is keep him comfortable for now until he passes on…"

"Passes on?" Malon echoed back. Her face began to crease in anger. "Passes on?! That's it? That's all you have to say? He's still alive and you're talking about him as if he's as good as dead?"

Talon grimaced a bit at this sudden lashing back. After all, he had never seen Malon actually get angry before. She had a spunky attitude and determination from living in the wild, but this was the first time he could recall seeing her actually filling with fury. "Now take it easy there, Malon. The doc knows his stuff. I'm sure if he says-"

"No he doesn't!" Malon retorted, actually cutting Talon off and making the large man physically recoil from her. For a moment, she actually paused. As lazy and slothful as her father could be, she didn't think she had ever cut him off before with an angry snap. However, she paused only a moment before going on only a little milder. "He just admitted it! He thought he should already be dead! Well…he's _not_ dead, so how does he know he won't pull through?" She wheeled back to the apothecary at that.

"So he's starved and sick? Big deal! We've brought plenty of hungry and sick horses back to health on this ranch! And I guarantee they were more trouble than he would be!"

The old man grimaced a bit at the sudden tongue lashing, but he put a hand to his nasal bridge only a moment before speaking again. "Young lady, I'm sure you're quite good at tending the horses here. But at the risk of making light of your work on caring for sick animals, this is more severe. I told you that there are some things potions can't cure. One of them is will power."

Malon's growing anger abated a bit. She eased back slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not surprised the boy is alive simply because he's enduring all of this sickness. I'm also surprised because he's not 'fighting' like most patients I've seen do. What little strength he has left he's not using. I know he's only semi-conscious as it is, but I've seen ones far more delirious put up more of an attempt to live than him. You have an individual here who, for one reason or another, wants to die."

The girl was stunned. It was true she barely knew the fairy boy, and hadn't the slightest idea of what he had been doing for seven years. But hearing that was almost too much for her to believe. Was the apothecary actually serious? But if he was…why? Malon herself wasn't any older than him, and death was something she hadn't even started to think about in her lifetime. And a boy like him, determined and steadfast enough to try and break into Hyrule Castle all by himself and ride off on Epona alone beyond the boundaries of the kingdom? It defied belief.

"You'd have to care for him continuously." The old man went on. "Morning, noon, and night. You'd have to try and get food into him whenever you could, cool off his fever every time he flared up, and treat his infection every hour on the hour. It'd only be a few days of that before you'd start getting sick yourselves, and there'd be no guarantee he'd improve for it. Meanwhile, you have a farm of your own to take care of and a lot of animals with duties that take all day."

This, however, caused Malon to frown again. "I love the horses, cows, and cuccos on this ranch. But do you think I'm so heartless that I'd let someone on my ranch die to take care of them?"

The old man winced, opening his mouth to speak again. But he didn't get the chance.

"I'll do it. I'll do all of it. I'll take care of him and get him back to health, and I'll take care of the ranch too."

"Malon…" Her father spoke up, sounding rather uneasy. "I know you mean well, and it's really great of you to say all that, but… We're still in the 'lean' season ourselves and we're pretty much up from sunup to sundown. You have to sleep and eat yourself sometime. You're just one person. You'll collapse if you spread yourself that thin."

"I can do it." The girl answered, her voice remaining firm as she looked back to Talon.

"But…"

"It doesn't matter if I 'spread myself thin' or not." She sharply cut off. "It's something that has to be done. Someone has to take care of him and someone has to take care of the farm. I don't see anyone else stepping up to do it, so I will."

On hearing this, Talon didn't recoil, but he did go still. Malon didn't say anything directly. If he had perceived that, it was purely unintentional. She would have been in her rights to call out the fact that she already did more than her share on the farm along with Mr. Ingo, while someone else in the room certainly did less. But she didn't care. Her own comfort, ease, or even well-being didn't matter in this case. Everyone else was talking as if this boy needed to be loaded in a coffin and carried out. While she barely knew him, he _was_ a friend. And she hadn't been thinking about him for seven years to give up on him. She had to try and save him. Right now, she realized, aside from Epona, she was the only person that boy had in the world who was willing to care for him.

And Epona had brought him here. She wanted him to live to, and took him to the only place she knew he could get help.

On seeing the resolve Malon had adopted, how she really intended to burn herself out until no oil was left, and that there was nothing anyone could say or do that would stop her, Talon slowly exhaled. He looked up to the apothecary.

"You heard her, doc. We're gonna see if we can't nurse him back to health."

The girl brightened at that. As for the apothecary, he paused a moment, but then exhaled and shrugged.

"Alright. But, in my opinion, you probably won't even have a patient tomorrow… Just keep in mind what I said. If he's going to have a chance, he's going to need round-the-clock care." He began to start heading out. "You can start by seeing if you can get any broth into him in about half an hour. I'll check back in three days. If he's still breathing, then I'll see if he'll do better for another treatment."

Malon quickly turned around and made to walk down the hall even faster. "Then I'm going to get as many of the cows milked as I can and see if I can talk Mr. Ingo into doing the others. Dad, can you come in here later and watch him while I feed the cuccos?"

"Actually, Malon…"

The rancher girl froze as she not only heard this, but actually saw her father step out and hold a hand up in front of her. She looked to him, and for a moment he stood there, as if uncertain or uneasy, his big black mustache swishing one way and another. He finally smiled a bit weakly.

"You…you go on and…and stay here and tend to the boy, alright? I'll handle the milking and the cuccos this morning."

For the second time in the past few minutes, Malon's jaw visibly dropped. Had Talon just…volunteered to do work? As much as she loved his father and hated Mr. Ingo's complaining, the fact was there was no two ways about it: he was lazy and a loafer. She had caught him mumbling in his sleep before about how Malon could handle everything at the ranch while he took it easy. It not only made her cross more than once…it actually made her unhappy that he was so easily ready to just freeload off of her like that. That he was excused because she was always around. It had been so long since she had seen him doing any work she wasn't actually sure if he even knew how to do it properly.

What suddenly made him change his mind?

Yet after a noticeably lengthy pause, she decided not to focus on all of that. The truth was she didn't know how she was going to make time to care for the fairy boy and do her work. So as long as he was offering, she didn't care for the reason. She just smiled back.

"Alright, dad." She snickered a bit. "I guess I'll go to work right now then!"

* * *

As much as Malon hated to admit it, the apothecary had been right about one thing. The next two weeks were some of the more stressful and sleepless the rancher girl had ever endured.

She never would have been able to make it if something hadn't possessed Talon to help out around the house and take over more of her duties. Even so, being spring and with a lot of work around the farm, Malon had to steal every moment she could to help out with the rest of the animals and chores. And when she wasn't doing that, she was tending the fairy boy. The first few days were the worst, as his fever would seem to break only to flare up again, he continuously coughed and choked up whatever she gave him, and his body was as limp and clammy as a boneless fish. Feeding him was the worst as he made little effort of his own to move.

It was just as the medicine man had said. For some reason, the fairy boy acted like he lacked the will to live. To even try to get better…

But Malon wouldn't let it go at that. Thinking of difficult horses who wouldn't get up no matter how much they were coaxed, she continued to work on him. The only time she gave him any rest to lie down was after he had taken some food and water, no matter how long it took to get it into him. And early on, as it would take hours and at whatever time of day or night, that soon wore away at her own stamina and strength. By now, she was looking rather pale herself. She had set up some bedding in the chair in her room to sleep in, but even so she was often haggard and sore from tending the fairy boy all night only to sneak what time she could to tend to the rest of the farm during the day. But she never tired out completely, and she never gave up. Speaking in a mixture of comforting phrases she used on animals and sometimes more sharper orders, she continued to force the fairy boy to eat, cooled down his fever, and faithfully cleaned out and tended to his wounds and dressings.

When the apothecary returned, he admitted he was honestly surprised to see the fairy boy still alive, and while he still wrote him off as good-as-dead, he did note his condition hadn't gotten any worse as it should have. Taking that as encouragement, Malon kept on. By the time she herself was starting to feel the burn of the proverbial candle at both ends after the first week, finally she noticed her work bore fruit. His fever fully subsided for the last time, and even his infections started to clear up. When the apothecary returned a second time with his third round of potion, color began to very slowly return to his body as he took more food in.

It didn't mean it wasn't still a struggle. In fact, Malon got a strange vibe from him. While it got easier, it seemed to be in a grudging manner, as if somehow the unconscious boy realized his caretaker wasn't going to let him die and was grudgingly deciding to get healthy again as a result. He even chewed and drank on his own without having to give it to him slowly, and "meat" was slowly beginning to reform on his bones although he had more than a ways to go. By now, it was more than likely he'd eventually recover. The only question now was how long it would take.

Malon was hoping to speed things up that morning. While bracing herself against the table a few times to keep herself from getting dizzy or yawning, she had decided to make some scrambled eggs to go with the milk today instead of broth. She felt he might actually take it this time. And if he didn't, she'd enjoy it herself. The other good thing about her patient finally getting better was it gave her more time to rest and even cook something besides just heating liquid up. Right now she was putting the result on a plate on a pan she was using as a serving tray along with a fork, napkin, and fresh glass of milk. After finishing arranging it a bit, the girl paused only to brush back a few loose strands of hair that had become disheveled the night before, then took up the food and began to head back through the kitchen for the stairs.

She glanced outside the open window as she did. It was another sunny day, and she could see Talon heading out to the stalls again to milk the cows. Unfortunately, as soon as he opened the door, Malon could hear a chorus of "cross" moos. She almost giggled at the sight. He had been out of practice so long he was still getting the swing of it again, and the cows clearly preferred Malon's more gentle hands to his bigger and rougher ones. Still, she was glad that he was sticking with it even now. She had thought once the fairy boy had started to recover he would have rotated her back in, but he was sticking with it. If anything, he was actually working _more_ as days went on. And that, in turn, was keeping Mr. Ingo quiet. It had been years since he didn't have a good excuse to complain about Talon loafing around, especially compared to him. He might not have been pulling his weight as much as him, but he wasn't lazing either.

As she walked up the stairs and to her door, she supposed she shouldn't have disdained it. Even if they didn't have a sick man in the house, they could use Talon's help more. She was a bit curious as to why the change, but maybe something stuck with him just as it had with her. She almost giggled to herself again as she pushed open the door with her foot. After all, she supposed most girls her age would never expect to be caring for a young man in their own bed…

She stepped inside and began to think about where she was going to set the tray while she tried to feed the young man only to let out a small yelp. A moment later, the tray crashed to the ground, shattering the glass and plate in the process and splattering food everywhere.

The boy didn't change. He kept the exact same spot he had before Malon walked in; namely sitting upright in bed and staring at her with a dull look. Oddly enough, he seemed more "dead" now that he was awake than when he was still unconscious. He was still almost skeletal, after all, and while he wasn't as pale as he was he still needed more color. More than that, however, Malon realized just how old he really looked in spite of being her age. He didn't look to be Talon or Mr. Ingo's age, but something far older than even that.

He didn't move or say a word at first. He stared at her while she herself slowly recovered from her shock at walking in and seeing him staring right at her. Yet even when she recovered, she didn't know what to say. She was so used to caring for him when he was out of it that now that he was awake and looking at her for the first time in seven years, she was totally at a loss. She tried to think of something, but she came up empty. She found herself just standing there staring at him in what she progressively realized had to look somewhat stupid.

 _Come on, say something!_

Finally, the rancher girl got enough bearings to at least spit out _something_.

"Hello."

She smiled widely afterward, although mentally she bopped herself in the head. That was it? Well, at least she had broken the ice.

The fairy boy, not looking nearly as lively or child-like when she first met him, said nothing. After a moment, his eyes looked away and slowly glanced around the room.

"Where am I?"

Even hearing his voice sent a ripple through Malon. The boy had been very quiet the last time he had been to the ranch. Malon couldn't remember him saying more than a few short phrases. Yet now, when he was this much older, worn out, and physically unwell, it sounded almost foreign. At any rate, he barely seemed to even care she was there. He was more interested in where he was.

"Um…you're here." She answered, before quickly realizing how meaningless that was. "I mean…you're in my room." She groaned audibly this time. "That is…you're at Lon Lon Ranch! There, I said it! Anyway, Epona brought you here."

Hearing the name made him look back to her. For a moment, the dull look vanished, replaced with a small flicker of concern.

"Epona…? You know her name?"

Malon's nervousness was replaced by some puzzlement. "Well, of course. Don't you remember? I'm the one who gave her to you seven years-"

"How is she? Is she alright?"

Malon's look fully turned into a frown at being interrupted, but she decided after a moment to let it slide. He just got up, after all. And if he was concerned about her, that was a point in his favor as far as she was concerned. "She's fine. She was a bit malnourished, but nothing that required special care or anything. She's in the stable."

"Can she be ridden?"

"Of course, but…" Malon trailed off on hearing that. Sure enough, right after saying that, the boy closed his eyes and began to go for the covers still on him. It looked like it was taking all of his effort. In all likelihood, his other arm was the only thing keeping him upright at the moment.

She frowned again. "You're not thinking of leaving, are you?"

"Thanks for your help. I wish I had rupees to give you…" The boy answered as he grit his teeth and started to grunt.

"You're nuts. You aren't going anywhere!" The girl began to walk over her mess and into the room. She could take her time. As slow as the boy was moving, he wasn't going to be making it out of bed anytime soon. "Look at you! Your wounds only stopped smelling a few days ago! And you look like you're skin and bone!"

"Do you still have my clothes? I can't go out like this…"

Now at the bedside, Malon crossed her arms and frowned. "Are you even listening to me? You're not going anywhere, fairy boy."

Finally, on hearing that title, the young man paused. He looked up to Malon. "Wait…what did you say?"

"I said you're not going anywhere! Look at you! You've been in bed for two weeks! You can't even stand up on your own right now! I'm definitely not letting you out on Epona!"

The young man frowned, but at least he was listening to her. The dull look returned to his eyes as he began to pull the covers off. "I don't need your help…"

"Well, you certainly did two weeks ago. You were nearly dead."

"…Good."

That last word was muttered, half under the boy's breath. Yet Malon, from where she was, managed to catch it. Immediately her frown turned to surprise instead. "Wh…what did you just say?"

The young man let out a tired sigh as he finally exposed a leg. Grunting and straining, he tried to drag it over to the side. He managed to move it, but as thin as it was and as weak as he was, he seemed to realize before he got far he'd never support his own weight. His face began to turn into more of a frown itself, and he let out an irritated hiss. After a moment, he tried to push it more, but now Malon leaned down and put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his leg.

"I said I didn't-"

"Yes you do, obviously." She interrupted. "You can barely even move on your own. You've been sick and starved for a long time. Even if I wasn't stopping you, you'd never be able to get downstairs, get to the stable, and get on Epona; let alone ride her out. It doesn't matter if I tell you you're staying or not. You aren't going anywhere. You can't."

The boy paused again. His mouth closed, but his frown deepened. He knew she was right; that he couldn't even drag himself out of the room, let alone out of the house or anywhere else. Malon wasn't even pushing.

Resigning himself, he exhaled and fell back onto the mattress, letting out a low moan as he did. Even sitting up, apparently, had drained him.

"That's better." Malon said as she removed her hands and began to rise again. "Now just lie here for a bit while I re-make you some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." He flatly stated.

The girl snorted. "That's a lie. I can tell it just looking at you, fairy boy."

He again seemed to pause at the name, but closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't have an appetite then."

Malon shrugged. "Suit yourself. Then you'll never get enough strength to get out of bed and out of the house."

While he didn't move much, his face visibly turned into a frown.

"Fine."

The rancher girl couldn't help but snicker a little as she headed back out to grab a rag.

* * *

It was about another half an hour before Malon had finally cleaned up the mess from the previous meal and made another, sitting next to bed. The fairy boy continued to have his grim and sour demeanor, and he was only slightly less easy to feed awake than he was when he was unconscious. It didn't help that Malon herself felt awkward spooning it to him, but she had no choice. While the fairy boy had been seated up when she got there, now he was only able to do it by being propped up against the wall. Still, she knew full well the food they had at the ranch was better than you could get in most of Hyrule. Even the royal family got their milk from them. So as much as he may not have wanted to eat, he did cooperate when he was fed.

Malon found herself staring at him quite a bit. He wasn't fully healthy but he was definitely out of the woods. And now he was awake and alert again. While he had a ways to go before he started looking more like his older self, she could tell it was him now. And yet, he seemed so different now. Not just in age, but so much darker and grimmer from who he once was.

So…hollow.

She considered the fact it might not have been him for a moment, but she knew that wasn't the case. Even if he didn't remember her, which caused her, to her surprise, a bit of irritation, _she_ remembered _him_. And he had clearly reacted to that call of "fairy boy".

With that in mind, she ventured a smile as she went for more eggs.

"So…where have you been all this time, fairy boy? It's been seven years now, right?"

The young man didn't answer. He continued to stare ahead at the wall, waiting for more food to be put in his mouth.

Malon's smile ebbed a bit, but she gave him another forkful. As she went for more, she tried again. "So how'd you end up back in Hyrule? And what happened to you to leave you like this?"

Still no answer.

Malon frowned a bit again as she fed him another bite. "Whatever happened to your fairy? Did you go off looking for her?"

His gaze seemed to turn a bit darker at that, but other than that he still did nothing.

Now the rancher girl really did frown as she put the fork down. "You can just say 'I don't want to talk about it', you know. You don't have to be rude and give me the silent treatment."

"You don't have to be rude and not mind your own business."

Malon actually recoiled a bit at that. For a moment, she wasn't sure whether or not to be caught at his sharp yet quiet reply or amazed that he had actually spoken up. Yet after a moment, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"…Sorry. I don't want to talk about it."

The rancher girl continued to hold a little longer, but slowly relaxed afterward. After a moment, she went back to getting more food on the fork.

"I'm sorry if I'm prying too much, but I'd really like to know where you've been." A pause. She moistened her lips and ended up playing with the eggs for a bit, not really sure if she should say this next part, or, if she did, if she should phrase it better.

"You know…I…um…that is…" She fumbled for a moment. "…I just remembered you really well when you came to get Epona all those years ago. I don't forget horses like her. And how she was so wild and ill-tempered before you came along."

The young man didn't answer. He ate another bite without saying anything. As Malon went for the milk, however, he turned his head very slightly to her.

"You called me 'fairy boy'."

"…Yeah. That's how I remembered you." She smiled a bit. "How you looked just like one of those Kokiri and you had your…" She trailed off, not saying the word. She wasn't sure if that would upset him.

He didn't say anything else for a moment, but now he seemed to be thinking. He turned more to her, this time his eyes looking at her.

"I think I remember you… Your name… Was it…Romani?"

Malon actually blinked at that, then she snickered. "Not even close, fairy boy. It's Malon. I guess you knew a lot of girls back then, huh?"

Although it was meant to be a good-natured joke, he didn't seem to take it too well. In fact, he turned his head away and stared blankly once again.

The rancher girl's own smile faded. "Hey, it was just a joke. I didn't mean to make you upset. I don't know how you got here, so I don't know what's a 'raw topic', fairy boy."

He didn't answer.

"Do you want me to stop calling you 'fairy boy'?"

His eyes slowly closed as he exhaled. "I haven't had a fairy in a long time. And I haven't been a boy for even longer."

Malon's mouth twisted a bit. "Well, in that case, what would you like me to call you?"

Silence.

The rancher girl sighed. "You aren't going to get well enough to leave overnight. If I don't have your name, I'll just have to keep calling you that."

A trace of a frown appeared on the young man's face. He let out a long sigh. His eyes opened afterward.

"Link."

* * *

The rest of breakfast was rather uneventful. 'Link' went quiet again soon after, although he reluctantly ate and drank. Once everything was done and cleaned up, Malon went and told Talon and Mr. Ingo that he was awake. However, she recommended that neither of them come in just yet. She said he was too weak for it, but the real reason was she didn't want either of them accidently offended by his attitude. Luckily, they took it for the time being, and she was free for the rest of that day.

The next few days showed little improvement. Link was always silent to any of her questions. Whenever she asked anything, he'd give her the cold shoulder, ask some other question related to how soon he could get out of there and ignore her completely, or, rarely, say he didn't want to talk about it. He was always sullen. Always downcast. Always looking so sad and morose whenever she walked in on him, in the exact same spot she had left him for the previous meal…sometimes the previous night. Like he was sitting around wanting to die, or even _waiting_ to die.

Somehow, Epona seemed to know that Link was awake after that. She showed it in her mood when Malon went to see her. Perhaps she could smell him on her clothing, or detect some sort of change. Unfortunately, Link wouldn't be seeing her anytime soon. Not in his current shape. And there was no way to bring Epona up to him either. She regretted it heavily, hoping that her presence might actually elevate his mood, or get him to say what he was doing there.

On the fourth morning, after breakfast, both Talon and Mr. Ingo came in to see him, with Talon being cordial and friendly and Ingo being more hostile. He responded to neither. In fact, he didn't speak at all when he was welcomed by Talon and asked anything about how he ended up in his current condition, or when Ingo came in with a more critical tone and attitude. To try and keep things from being too awkward, Malon found herself frequently interjecting for him although she could answer few of their questions. All she could really do was tell them that he didn't want to talk about why he had gotten there and apologize on his behalf.

The only time he broke his silence was when Ingo began to pry at one point.

"You know, we've had to make some sacrifices on the ranch to take care of you and your horse." He explained. "We've paid for the local apothecary, given you a free bed and roof over your head, fed you… And that's to say nothing about how we've been stalling and feeding your horse some of our best hay."

Malon frowned, realizing what he was getting at with this.

"For all of these favors we've lost quite a bit of revenue. I don't think it's out of line to ask for just a little bit of compensation in return for it-"

"I never asked any of you to help me."

Being not only the only thing he had said the entire time, but how darkly and coldly he said it, actually made Mr. Ingo's normal scowl abate a bit. Talon himself looked rather awkward as well, swallowing a bit. Even Malon didn't know how to answer that.

Yet after a moment, Ingo recovered. "Well, be that as it may, from what I gather, you never officially purchased that horse…Epona, right…to begin with, yes?"

The boy looked to one side, frowning a bit but saying nothing. Malon, however, jumped in. "Mr. Ingo! I told you I gave her to him!"

"Yes, and I hardly think a seven-year-old girl was qualified to make that choice. Nowadays, I'm sure you realize what kind of reputation the ranch would get if it became known that we just 'give away' horses to whoever seems to be in need. Now anyone we sell to can use this as an excuse for a raw deal and we'd be bankrupt in two months…"

Malon took a page from Link and screened out Ingo at that. Eventually, Talon came back in and told him not to worry about it; to just focus on getting better and out of bed. Yet Link was hardly any warmer to that comment than he had been to Mr. Ingo's chagrin. He said no more the entire time they were there.

Once they were gone, and a few moments of silence had passed, Malon began to rise to excuse herself as well. "I'm sorry about that. Mr. Ingo really always has been a 'penny pincher'. He works hard, but he always talks about how we should be making more rupees and," She grimaced a bit. "I guess, as a result, _he_ should be making more rupees."

"I thought he had changed when he was forced to stay here to…"

The phrase had only been muttered, and it trailed off, but Malon heard the first part clearly.

"Excuse me?"

Link's face turned, as if he had just let out a secret, and he closed his eyes and muttered a curse to himself. "Forget it. Forget I said anything."

But Malon wouldn't let him off the hook so easily this time. "You said something about how you thought Mr. Ingo had changed. Did you know him once? He didn't look like he remembered you…"

"Do you have my clothes?"

Malon frowned and crossed her arms on hearing that. "You know, I think I've put up with just about enough of you evading my questions by ignoring me. It's rude. You weren't this rude seven years ago."

Again he shut his eyes and sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

The rancher girl pouted a moment, before cracking a smile at a thought.

"Then I don't want to talk about where I put your clothes."

The boy's eyes opened as he turned to her in surprise.

"Feel like explaining yourself now?"

In response, the boy merely gave a scowl before looking away and leaning back against his pillow. He stared at the wall and said no more to her.

"Suit yourself, fairy boy." She shrugged as she turned. "I'll be back with lunch later."

She heard just the barest hint of a sneer behind her at being called 'fairy boy' once again. Yet as Malon walked out of the room, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

She had gotten him angry.

That was better than depressed, at least.

* * *

He was still rather cross when she met him again at lunch, especially since she didn't ease up on calling him "fairy boy" now. He ate rather grudgingly and snappingly, realizing full well so long as he was too weak to walk he was stuck there. By the time supper came around, she caught him actually trying to get out of bed again and doing no good. He had to have collapsed right back on the mattress from trying to stand. By now, his muscles were not only weak but emaciated. He'd need time just to be able to walk on his own and he knew it. That made him crosser than ever as he eased back onto the mattress.

To be honest, Malon was a bit surprised that he was even able to make the attempt. He hadn't been awake that long.

"You're a pretty tough guy to already be trying to get out of bed after being up less than half a day, fairy boy." She pointed out as she sat her food down.

Link sighed. "I thought you weren't going to call me that name anymore."

"I don't think I ever agreed to that." She answered innocently. She soon sat down and took up the fork. "I put some gravy in with your eggs this time. You should be strong enough to get that down if you're doing this."

She soon took up the fork and turned to him, bringing it forward for him to eat.

She recoiled in surprise a moment later as he managed to raise one arm high and fast enough to smack the fork right out of her hand and to the floor.

"I guess I'm strong enough for more than _that_." He sardonically sneered. "I'm not hungry."

For a moment, Malon's anger flared as she frowned right back at him. "You don't want to eat? Fine. I don't have to make this food for you, you know. You can just stay in that bed and go hungry until you starve to death."

"If it'll keep you all from constantly asking me questions, then fine." He retorted. "I told you I don't want to talk about it. I told you that I didn't ask you to help me out there. Why do you keep thinking differently?"

She grit her teeth. "You know, you weren't this big of a jerk seven years ago!"

"I'm not the person I was seven years ago _either!_ Stop treating me as if I am!"

The rancher girl nearly shouted again, but just barely she managed to hold her tongue. This wasn't doing any good. It certainly wasn't helping Link and it wasn't making any progress. Letting out a sharp sigh, she slumped back into her chair, frowned, and pouted a moment.

Luckily, the move did well. Link didn't look smug or justified at that. He simply sighed as well, turned his head away, and soon resumed his former morose look. It ended up giving both a chance to calm down. And after a moment, Malon tried again in a softer voice.

"I'm just trying to help you. And yes, I know you didn't ask for my help. Well, I'm giving it to you anyway. Obviously you're pretty upset about something. Something really has you feeling bad. Well, maybe if I knew more about it I'd understand and then I wouldn't try to do anything about it."

Link said nothing. He didn't even shift.

The girl twisted her mouth for a moment. "…Alright, I'll make you a deal. No more teasing. No more 'fairy boy'. It'll just be 'Link' from now on if you can tell me just one little thing. How did you end up in such bad shape when you reached the farm?"

Silence.

"You don't have to tell me where you were for seven years. You don't have to tell me where you and Epona went. You don't have to answer any other questions and I promise I won't ask any. Just tell me…please. Tell me why you were in such bad shape, and you'll be Link and I won't pester you with any more questions. Please?"

Link remained quiet and motionless for a few seconds. That broke when he slowly closed his eyes. He inhaled very slowly and exhaled very slowly. He went still afterward for a long time. For a moment, Malon thought he was just going to keep giving the cold shoulder and thought of giving him. But right before throwing in the towel on him, his lips parted.

"I decided to stop eating weeks ago; just keep riding until I reached Kakariko Village."

Malon looked up at that. "Why did you wa-"

"You promised."

The girl was cut to the quick, especially since Link's eyes immediately opened and he spun to her at that. Now he stared at her, as if asking her to dare finishing her question.

She sighed, realizing she had used up her own question only to have a multitude of others. But she relented and nodded. "…Right. I promised. No more questions…Link."

He said no more than that, but seemed satisfied. Soon after, Malon reclaimed the fork, wiped it off, and then resumed feeding him. Neither of them said anything else, but at the bare minimum Link looked neither depressed nor angry for the rest of the evening.

* * *

"Let me get under you more."

"I can do this on my own…"

"No you can't. You're not supporting nearly enough of your weight."

Link frowned at the insinuation, but Malon let him and continued to get herself under and around him. To be honest, internally, this was making her blush a bit. She hadn't had her arms around a young man her age until now. And Link, by now, was starting to look more like he should. He still seemed far older than his years showed, and his face still seemed sunken and grim. But at least his body was a healthier color and had some weight back to it. Now his muscles had to be rebuilt.

He wasn't exactly the easiest to get along with himself. He didn't like the fact he needed Malon's help even to get up and move around, but he seemed to turn even more red faced when she had to put her arms around him and brace herself against him to move him about, and this time it wasn't just shame at needing help.

At any rate, externally Malon was able to keep a straight face. She had helped sick horses get to their feet and walk before, so she had both the strength and experience with much more difficult animals. She could tell Link was wearing himself out after only being at this for ten minutes, but he wouldn't stop. He was upset enough that he wasn't yet healthy enough to even walk around the room bracing himself against the furnishings. He had been obsessed with getting on his feet ever since getting up, and it was all Malon could do to get him to wait until now to start.

Aside from that, he said little. He focused only on getting himself healthy again. By now his injuries were healed and unbound, his sickness had abated, and all that was left was rebuilding his strength. Malon realized as soon as that was done, he would likely head out, especially the way he kept talking. Debatably, she wouldn't have heard from him any more than she had when he was a child.

In spite of the fact he wasn't the friendliest of patients, Malon realized the thought made her feel a tad unhappy. To have gone so many years hoping to see him again, and then to simply have him leave as abruptly as he had come in. And after having so much time to talk to him…

Suddenly, Link's foot gave way underneath him. In an instant, the bulk of his weight fell on Malon. But between his light frame and her own strength, she tightened up and held him, bending a bit in her knees but keeping him supported. The young man reacted slightly, and for a moment he looked to her with a touch of surprise. It seemed he hadn't expected her to actually catch him so easily. Yet he soon looked forward again as she helped push him back up to a stand.

"I think that's your body telling us we're done for the day."

He shook his head. "I can go another ten minutes…"

"You're sweating pretty hard."

"I got to build my muscle back up… Get myself motile again…"

Her lips turned a bit. "Why? Heading to Kakariko?"

Link turned his head to her. He gave her the same look he had done multiple times before, every time a question leaked out.

Malon sighed and struggled not to roll her eyes. "Sorry…"

The boy looked forward and began to try to walk again. Frowning now, Malon continued to help him but also was getting frustrated. She had hoped he would have forgotten about her saying no more questions, but he hadn't. He was still holding her to that even after another week had passed. He seemed so single-minded on…well, whatever he was thinking of that he would never forget. And that made for rather quiet days. Unable to ask him anything, most of their time was spent in silence. And he himself never asked anything about her, a fact which nearly made her huff.

 _Wait a second… That's not such a bad idea._

A bit of a crafty smile came on Malon's face as she helped him walk. She continued to help him for another step or two, him still staring forward, when she suddenly looked upward.

"Why, I'm a rancher, of course. Just like my dad."

Link looked to her when she spoke. She had spoken plainly and pleasantly suddenly out of the blue, and as if she was answering a question although none had been asked. As a result, his brow was quirked at her in genuine puzzlement.

Yet Malon only continued to help him walk and kept smiling.

"Mostly it's horses that we breed here. But occasionally we get horses from other ranchers and traders. Usually sick ones they want rehabilitated or ones we're using to breed. Every now and then we even get feral ones."

Link continued to look at her in confusion, but Malon merely let out a giggle at her own idea, and then spoke again.

"It can be, even if you know what to do. Horses are a lot of work. Nutrition is the worst. So many people let them eat the wrong patches, or try to raise them on oats only. We have good pasture here for the horses, but we also raise cows. Those are harder. Not enough grazing ground on this property."

"Are you…talking to me?"

Malon smiled a bit more. _Finally…got him to talk to me without prompting…_

"Of course not." She answered matter-of-factly. "You never say anything to me or ask me anything."

This only confused the boy more. "Then…what are you doing?"

"Answering questions."

Now his whole face began to twist. "What…questions?"

"The ones you're not asking, of course." She snickered back. "It's getting boring in here just being quiet. I can't ask you anything, so I'm imagining you asking me about myself."

Link closed his eyes and let out a loud groan. "Are you serious?"

"Well, not anymore." She answered with a shrug. " _You're_ asking me questions now. You've asked me four in less than a minute."

The young man actually grit his teeth, realizing he had been tricked. He soon muttered again to himself before snapping his head forward and continuing to walk, looking intent on ignoring her.

Yet Malon wasn't done. As she kept walking, she started up again.

"Well, we pasture them whenever we can, but we haven't been able to lately because I've been taking care of you. Otherwise we'd take them out to the better areas of Hyrule Field. But we've got to be careful and get them back inside as fast as possible when the sun starts going down. You can imagine how bad it would be if we were stuck out there when the Stalchilds started to come out." Pause. "Why, we feed them hay, of course! It's not cheap, and it's not easy to bring it in to the ranch either. We try to buy as much as we can off of traders coming by. That way we cut time lost at least." Pause. "Funny you should ask that. Obviously we have to roll it into the price of our milk. So if we can pasture more, it translates to cheaper milk. You have to worry about things like that when you work on a ranch." Pause. "Well, say you can estimate it takes that cow about this much land and that much time to graze before you get a gallon of milk from her, and that cow takes about one and a half times as much land but gives you two gallons, then you have to keep track which animals to pasture and when-"

"Alright, enough already!" Link suddenly outburst.

"You need me in here to walk you around, and I'm bored of just being quiet." Malon spoke in a near pout. "So as long as I'm walking you around, I'm going to have to do something to pass the time."

The boy let out a loud sigh. "Alright, fine. If you didn't want to walk me around anymore, you should have just said so, though…"

Malon's smile faltered. "That's not what I had in mind. I mean you could ask me questions about things _you're_ interested in. That way I'll keep talking about things you like and you won't get annoyed." Another pause. "Or…you know, you could always tell _me_ about what you-"

"Fine, fine." He cut off, clearly not wanting to do that. Even so, he stumbled for a moment as he tried to think of a question to ask, and clearly wasn't coming up with much. Finally he managed to spit out somewhat haphazardly: "What…do you do here all day?"

Malon had still hoped for a little more than that, but she went ahead and mentally notched another small victory in her belt.

"Well, first things I do on waking up…"

* * *

Malon tried talking more the next few days. She felt that time took longer to pass when she did so, and that it would make him stay longer. She had little basis for supposing that was working, but she hoped it would.

As a result, things around the ranch were starting to suffer a bit. While Talon continued to step up, the fact was they needed more hands right now at this time of year. In addition to the normal work, last year had been a bit weak on hay harvesting so they were going to need to make trips to market before long. In addition, the Summer End Festival was coming up at the end of the season and Lon Lon Ranch was always a big sponsor of those activities in terms of fresh food and horses for the performances. It was really their best chance at advertising all year. All of that needed extra hands as well, and she was spending most of her time here trying to get Link to open up.

Worst of all was that Shanna wasn't eating and, last she heard, her health was beginning to deteriorate again. She knew Talon wasn't quite as good with treating the horses as he was the cuccos, and Mr. Ingo was best with the cattle. Taking care of the horses themselves was always her responsibility, and she could only afford to neglect it for so much longer.

She knew she had more than enough reason to get moving. She was at the point where she was just standing in the room now, watching Link walk around on his own, using the wall as a brace. In all likelihood, he could do this without her help. Even if he fell he was likely to be strong enough to yank himself back up. But she realized the second that happened he'd no longer need her around at all.

"…What was that?"

Malon shook her head and looked up. Link had actually paused in helping himself do another circuit around the room and was looking at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You were saying something about needing to head out soon?"

The rancher girl blinked a few times. She had gotten so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten what she was telling him. Quickly, she shook her head. "Oh, I was just saying that we needed to head to the market for hay soon. We're really getting low and if we want to keep up milk production we're going to need more."

"Do you get that at Castle Town Market?"

She giggled. "Oh, of course not. All the hay you get there is overpriced and exotic. It's much better at Kakariko…"

She trailed off, but it was too late. She had already said it, and now a fear crept into her heart. The only thing she knew for certain that Link wanted was to go to Kakariko Village. Hence, she had subconsciously tried not to mention any of their trips to it. She didn't want to give him an excuse to tag along, especially since he could probably manage being on Epona now. She almost winced as she feared what would happen next.

Instead, she got another surprise.

Link actually looked fearful at the sound of that place. He nearly said something else, but then he turned and kept walking.

The girl's unease turned to confusion on seeing that. "You looked a bit odd when I said that. I thought you wanted to go there."

"I…" He began to say. Then, forcing himself a bit, he spat out the rest. "…I do."

"Then what's wrong?"

Malon realized only a few moments after saying this that she had asked a question. And yet, Link didn't give her a look this time. He didn't even turn to her. Yet before she could mistake it for the cold shoulder, he did something unexpected.

"I…don't know."

The young woman almost felt herself rear up at that. While it had been rather mild, she realized she had asked a question and he had answered it. And he had done so in such a way he seemed to have forgotten his own "rule" momentarily.

Link continued to walk around the room, and Malon thought for a moment of relishing her other small victory. Yet she realized she wasn't going to get many more chances to break through to him. He could be ready to leave within the next day or two. While she might overplay her hand, if she didn't keep pushing now she wasn't going to get the chance. Swallowing and gathering her courage, she decided to try.

"Where…um…what…what do you feed Epona when you're out?"

That one was more obvious of a question, and it didn't help that she stumbled trying to think of one that would be innocuous to be more answered rather than what she _really_ had wanted to ask; namely where he had gone with the mare these seven years. It made Link freeze and look at her. Although the look wasn't as firm as before, it still made her recoil a bit, thinking she had ruined it.

He stared a second, then turned away.

"…Whatever's around to graze, usually."

Malon felt another wave come over her. He actually answered another question. It wasn't a "big" one, but he was actually talking. With that in mind, she felt herself ease up.

"…That's usually not good for horses. You can't just let them eat anything. Keaton Weed is all over the place and it'll make them sick."

"Oh, I know enough not to let them eat that. Sar…"

Link froze in mid-speech. He had started to answer her, but he said a word that caught him. For a moment, he suddenly looked older yet. More pained. Some of the strength seemed to flood out of him. He swallowed and trembled.

Malon wasn't so concerned with him stopping as the change that came over him. She actually began to step toward him on seeing that look over him. "Are you alright?"

Before she could get more than a step, though, he inhaled deeply and forced himself to stand.

In a quieter voice, he finished. "…Someone told me which plants were bad for animals long ago."

Malon was quiet a moment, waiting to see if he would elaborate. He didn't.

"How about…in winter?"

"Usually I'd have to buy her food then."

"Where from?"

"Wherever I could get it and whatever I could afford…"

* * *

Talon was about to dig into his own supper when he paused. While Mr. Ingo was already eating, Malon, who had managed to work up quite an appetite between both her regular chores and tending to Link, at least under normal circumstances, was now idly picking at her food. Being "rancher folk", she thought nothing of putting an elbow on the table and using it to prop her head up as she stared at her plate, her fork slowly turning things over.

"Malon? Something wrong?"

"Oh, she's just worried about that kid upstairs." Ingo interjected in between mouthfuls. "I don't know why you worry about him besides the fact he's a mouth to feed and an unnecessary chore, and he never gives anything back. Doesn't even talk."

"He's been talking more." The young woman protested at that. "But…" She paused and sighed again. "…Nothing. It's nothing."

She resumed picking at her food. Talon, on his part, held a moment before setting his fork down. If Malon had been a bit less distracted, she would have marveled at it. He was even less apt to giving up eating than Ingo.

"You know, Ingo has a point. You really have taken to him. I don't ever think I've seen you spend so much time with a young man. Now," He chuckled a bit. "Granted we don't get many of 'em around here, but even in town you usually seem to be more interested in the horses and the milk. Besides, I may not be the sharpest nail in the box, but I ain't so dense that I didn't notice that you changed after you went up to see him this afternoon. Everything alright?"

"It's fine, dad." Malon answered, her tone somewhat lackluster. "Everything's fine. He just…" She trailed off, a bit surprised she said even that much.

"Just what?"

"He didn't happen to say when he was leaving, did he?" Ingo interjected again.

For once, the rancher girl frowned a bit at his comments.

"Is that what he said, Malon?" Talon interjected. "Did he say he was leaving soon? That's why you're like this?"

The girl said nothing more. She wasn't sure she wanted to. She knew that tomorrow they'd be going to Kakariko Village for hay, and Link was practically well enough to get by on his own. She was afraid if she said anything about it that one of them would suggest he come with them and that would be the end of everything. But then again, she wasn't sure _why_ she was so upset that it would be the end of everything.

It was true she had only gotten him to start saying the slightest bit about himself today, but she wondered if that was truly the reason.

"Excuse me."

The sound of Malon's fork clattering against her plate was rather loud and distinct as she immediately snapped her head to the incoming voice, finding herself, along with Talon and Ingo, looking to the bottom of the stairwell in surprise.

There, still dressed only in nightclothes and bracing himself against the wall, stood Link. His face was still rather grim and sunken, but he was far better than he had been when he got there. He looked up a bit this time and actually met their gazes. For a moment, it seemed both sides were too dumbfounded to say anything. They had hardly expected him to walk in there.

Malon herself wondered just how much he had heard…

"Oh, hey there, son." Talon finally spoke up, resuming his jovial self. "Didn't hear ya' come down. Didn't expect ya' either. Otherwise we'd have set a place for you. Well, don't be a stranger. We still got plenty of corn and potatoes left."

"No thank you." Link cut in after a moment. His voice was hesitant, as if he wasn't sure what to say. He paused for a moment too, which only made things worse on Malon, fearing what he would say next.

"Actually, I had a bit of a question…"

Now the girl actually felt herself swallow a bit. Link paused again, again seeming to be struggling to talk, but then finally spat it out.

"Well, first off…I…wanted to say thank you. For everything. I know I wasn't exactly 'grateful' when I first woke up, and I wanted to thank you properly. Next is that I'm feeling better now. Tomorrow I'm going to try and walk without any support, so I was wondering…"

Malon's palms were actually sweating. She tried not to quiver.

"I…thought a lot about what you said when I first got here. About how you've all had to put a lot of time and energy into me and I didn't even have any rupees to give for it. So, if you can get me my clothes back, I thought I'd at least try to work off a bit of what I owe you…um, that is if you're willing to house me a bit longer."

The rancher girl nearly swooned. Her eyes visibly enlarged for a moment when she heard the news. Did this mean he would be staying longer? Better yet, did that mean he _wanted_ to stay longer?

As for Talon and Ingo, they stayed quiet a moment. This was, after all, a big change to them too. While Link still looked mostly dark and grim, this was the first time he had volunteered such a thing, or looked like he had the slightest inclination to do so in the first place. They were a bit dumbfounded. However, it was Ingo who finally smiled a bit and leaned back.

"Well, seems you do have some proper manners after all, young man." He answered him, before looking to the big man across from him. "What do you say, Talon? I think that sounds perfectly well to me. The fair and polite thing to do."

"I…well…I suppose you could, young fella." Talon finally answered after a moment, a bit hesitant himself; much to Ingo's chagrin. "So, what kind of work you ever done on a ranch before?"

Link grimaced. "None, sir. I've cared for Epona, but…that's it."

"Hmm… Well, it's a bit different from a standard farm, but that's a start. What kind of work have you done on a farm before?"

The young man turned a bit red faced. "None, sir."

Talon turned his brow a bit. "Well, what did you grow back at your home when you were little?"

"…Nothing, sir."

He paused, looking more confused. "How about carpentry? Done any of that?"

"No, nothing."

"Nothing?" He echoed back. "You a rich man's boy, son?"

He shook his head.

"Well, what'd you do for a living, then?"

"Um, dad…it's alright." Malon suddenly interjected. "He can tag along with me tomorrow and I'll see what he can do. I don't think he's strong enough to do any heavy work anyway."

Both Talon and Ingo as well as Link looked up to Malon at that. The latter was rather surprised, but Malon didn't look back at him. She only tried to force her own smile at her father and hoped it didn't look too fake.

After a moment, the big man shrugged. "Well sure, if that's what you want. Probably for the best anyway. You know how I stink at telling others what to do."

Malon smiled a bit more and nodded back, then forced herself to turn and look to Link. "Alright, you heard him. I'll put you to work tomorrow. Just make sure you get a good night's sleep, because this is going to put muscle back on your bones much faster than you like!"

She hoped her voice was as enthusiastic as she wanted. She was still rather nervous even to be talking to him about this. However, he seemed to take it well enough. He didn't give any dirty or stern looks, at any rate. He only blinked a few times, and then nodded.

"Alright then, good night. See you early tomorrow. _Early._ "

The boy turned and soon began to make his way back up the stairs; slower than he had come down, naturally.

As for Malon, she let out a massive exhale as soon as he was gone. Afterward, she was able to eat her supper without further delay.

* * *

Malon was up well before dawn the next day. While that was part and parcel for living on a ranch, she was up even earlier than normal. She wondered why for a short time before she supposed it was to get Link up early, although she realized she was a tad nervous that he might have been gone. That anxiety only increased when dawn approached, as Talon came out and hitched the wagon to go get hay from Kakariko Village. He announced it out loud, and by then Link was up. However, he said nothing. He merely asked where his clothes were.

He seemed rather surprised when he was handed a set of rugged yet comfortable clothes that were just a little too big for him.

"…Where are my clothes?"

"Your 'rags' are being used for erosion control in the garden." Malon answered. "That's all they were good for. Your big dagger was so rusty and dull that it wasn't good for anything either."

The boy frowned on hearing all of this, only slowly taking the clothes from her.

"But this is still fine!" She spoke to cheer him up, passing him the only other item she had found on him when he rode up: a stunning blue ocarina bearing the symbol of the royal family. "If this wasn't just an instrument, I'd ask if you stole it. Seems pretty nice. I've never seen this stuff it's made out of before. It's kind of like wood, but also shell. And it's polished so nicely. I still remember your old ocarina. That one was nice too. Where'd you get this one?"

"It was a present." Link said as he more readily got it from her, nearly snatching it out of her hands.

She didn't notice. "From who?"

He went silent at that yet again. Not willing to risk him clamming up permanently, Malon decided to drop it for the time being.

He was still walking stiffly when he came out to the barn, looking like he might waver or fall more than once. Although Malon offered to get him a walking stick to help out, he refused. By the time he was fully dressed, fed, and in the barn, the sun was just coming up. She was glad for that as it meant she could easily navigate the barn and point everything out to him without having to light up any of the lamps. So after grabbing a stool and a pail, she led him over to where the cows were stalled.

"Milking is pretty much the only thing you can do on the ranch sitting down, so we'll start with that. Don't think it's going to be easy, though. One of ways we make the most money around here is through Lon Lon Milk, and that means we have a lot of cows and they have to be milked a couple times a day. Your hands are going to cramp up from this but give it a couple weeks and your grip'll be stronger than iron, believe me."

Link said nothing in reply, and stayed quiet until Malon finished setting up her stool next to the first cow in line. As she slipped the pail under her, he finally spoke up again. "So what do I do?"

Malon actually looked to him incredulously for a moment. "You _have_ seen people milk cows before, right?"

"Well…sort of. None of the Kokiri kept-"

He cut himself off, but Malon lit up on hearing that. "So you _did_ live with the Kokiri!"

Link frowned at his own slip. "…Do I just go underneath them and squeeze?"

Malon frowned a bit at the evasion, but let it go for now. She had gotten one more nugget of information and it was best not to chance it. "No, there's a trick to it. Start at the top and slowly work it down. Like this." She held up her hand and made a motion. "You'll probably start slow. Beginners always do. But keep at it until you get a rhythm going. It helps to do both hands at a time. Makes it go faster. Go on and give it a shot."

Link looked around a bit uncertainly, hesitating a moment, but then slowly made his way over to the stool. On reaching it, he very slowly sat down; partially out of his condition and partially out of reluctance. He slowly leaned over, reached out, and tentatively grasped the udder. He gave a single squeeze.

The cow immediately let out a loud moo and stomped a hoof, trying to get it up to him. Malon herself winced. "Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?"

"Squeezing like you showed me."

"That's _not_ how I showed you! You're starting too high and you're yanking! Here!"

Link almost found himself pushed aside as Malon quickly ducked down next to him and leaned next to the udders. She reached over a moment later, put her own hands on, and then showed him explicitly. The pail gave a metallic sound as the milk splashed into it.

"See? Just like that. You have to realize that it's like a baby nursing. Try it."

Almost hesitantly, Link leaned back over to the udder. He tentatively reached out, grasped once again, and tried once more. This time, he was too gentle. Nothing came out.

"Put a bit more into it. A _bit_."

Swishing his mouth a bit, the young man tried. It took a few more goes, but finally a small amount came out. It was faint at first, running down the bottom of his hand.

"Just a teeny bit more."

He tried again. This time he got a small stream.

"There you go. Now just get used to that and pick up the pace. You've got a lot to do."

Link frowned at the small amount he was getting out. The fact he had to go slow for now didn't help one bit. "You only get a little bit with each one…"

"What did you expect? A faucet?" Malon answered as she leaned up. "Ranching takes hard work and time." She smiled one more time, leaned over, and patted him on the shoulder. "Now hurry up. If you take too long, by the time you're done it'll be time to milk them again."

Link said nothing, just looked back to the udders. Leaving him to it, Malon turned and began to walk back out again. She didn't honestly expect him to do it right at first, but she figured the least she could do was giving him a little bit of time to hopefully find his own pace and pattern. After about half an hour, she'd head back and see how he was doing and give him more guidance then if need be. However, there were other chores to do before then. She'd have just enough time to feed the cuccos before checking in on him.

However, she had scarcely left the barn and began to think where she left her feeding satchel when she heard something behind her. Something she hadn't heard in many years.

Ocarina music playing her mother's song.

For a brief instant, Malon smiled inwardly at the thought that Link had remembered the song after all. Yet that faded quickly when she realized what was going on. Forgetting the satchel, she snapped around, ran back to the barn door, burst through, and rushed back over to Link.

The young man looked up from his playing, although it looked as if the damage had been done. The cow was already freely issuing a large amount of milk into the pail beneath her, and all without the help of any manipulation.

Malon went wide-eyed, and then gave him a stern look. "What do you think you're doing?"

His brow quirked. "Milking them. That song you taught me all those years ago works wonders. I used to fill up bottles of milk wandering Hyrule while I-"

"You can't just do that whenever!" Malon shot back. "You keep milking them playing that song you'll make them sore! Inflamed! Then they're _really_ hard to milk! Eventually they'll stop giving it at all unless they hear that song! And they'll eat like...well, I was going to say 'cows' but worse than that!"

Immediately, she walked over, reached out, and snatched the ocarina out of his hands.

This actually caused him to register shock. "Hey!"

"Now milk the other ones right!" She shouted back as she held the ocarina up. "I'm keeping this until you're done! No shortcuts! Just-"

Malon cut herself off, registering a bit of surprise herself. In a flash, with strength she didn't realize he had regained, Malon saw Link shoot off of the stool enough to knock it over, then lash out and seize the ocarina back from her. He gave her a mild glare.

"I'll do what you say the way you want it." He flatly stated. "I won't play that song again. But now that I have this back, don't _ever_ take this from me again. You got it?"

It had been a while since Link's voice had turned so sharp and serious. It was enough to make Malon pause and blanch rather than try and fight it back or argue, she found herself just meekly nodding back. She wasn't even able to find her voice.

The young man seemed to realize she was cringing. On seeing that, he calmed a bit himself, then sighed as he put the ocarina away and turned back to the stool. Slowly, he leaned down, pulled it back up, and sat down on it.

"...Sorry." He finally said. "This...is special to me. One of the few things I have. And I don't want it taken. Not by anyone."

Malon held a moment. She thought of asking him more about it but realized she'd get just the same response as always. However…

She remembered the royal symbol on the ocarina.

She thought also of that day she had met him; going to Hyrule Castle.

For a brief moment, she found herself reminding herself that he said he was going to Kakariko Village, not to Hyrule Castle. She further realized that thinking of that made her feel more at ease.

"…I'll be back to check on you in a half hour." She repeated, this time with little emotion good or bad, and then turned and began to walk out once more. She found that she suddenly had more on her mind than she had anticipated.

* * *

Malon had eased up considerably after that incident, although it still weighed on her mind. She wasn't necessarily mad at Link for what happened or even still too uneasy from his reaction. However, she _was_ back to wondering more about him all over again.

She checked on him after a full hour instead of the half, but was in a much better mood. She almost giggled again at the sight. He had barely managed to fill half of the pail, and he turned rather red on hearing her reaction. Quickly she got him to put it in the metal container rather than risk it staying out any longer. After that, she told him it was better if she finish it up this morning and let him get to something else. Still not really trusting him to manual labor, she had to think about what was best.

"Hmm, how about you go feed the cuccos?"

Even the young man seemed to raise an eyebrow at the ease of such a task. "...Feed cuccos?"

"It's easy. All you have to do is load up your satchel with some grain and scatter it out, then make sure all of them get some." She cracked a bit more of a grim and elbowed him. "Even _you_ can do that easy."

Link didn't say anything, but headed out.

As for Malon, she quickly finished up the milking. She had work of her own to get started with and now that she was off having a good laugh at Link's expense, she had to admit he had caused a bit of a backup. Taking too long with the cows would only cause a logjam later when they had to be milked a second time. And she had discovered that she needed to do more than she had intended today.

Once all the milking was done, she headed back out and over to check on Link. The cucco pen was a short walk away and not in easy view of the cattle barn, but on arrival she got a pleasant surprise. He seemed to be feeding the cuccos in the right manner. All were getting fed, including the smaller and younger ones, and he was conducting himself in the right way too; not upsetting them or doing anything that would make them start flapping around or running. Usually new folk were greeted with fear or pecks by the birds. The young man was taking right to them.

She grinned as she neared. "Well, I think you found your niche on the farm."

"Like you said, it's not too hard." Link simply answered, throwing out another amount of feed.

"I think that's enough for now if you've been feeding them all this time." She quickly corrected. "But actually it's a bit harder than that. You look like you have a way with cuccos. Heh...I'm a bit shocked. Most boys I knew used to just try and run out and grab them, then jump off a roof and go for a glide."

"Well, I did that a bit when I was younger too." The young man admitted a bit reluctantly after a few moments. "But luckily I saw what happened when a boy tried to tease one too many times."

"Yeah. Stronger than they look when they're in a flock, aren't they?"

"There was a woman named Anju back in Kakariko Village. I helped her a few times catch her own cuccos, and I actually handled some chicks for her before. I guess it rubbed off on me. But all the Ko..."

Again, he trailed off. He paused for a moment.

"...All the Kokiri were good with animals?" Malon tried to answer.

Link said nothing, just began to head over to deposit the remaining grain and the satchel.

"...I won't push it. By now I know it wouldn't do much good." She sighed. "But you got a talent there. I suppose I should have known it. Dad told me how you grabbed those three real quick when you were little."

Losing his sudden silence, the young man looked up. "He...remembered that?"

"I should think so. You're the only kid who ever ruined his scam." Malon snickered. "That's how he used to make most of his rupees. Conning kids into playing that little cucco challenge. You're the only one who ever won it. I should thank you. You actually got him to start working again when he couldn't make easy money anymore."

Link held a moment, before he did something rare. He actually smiled a bit. She wasn't sure if it was at the compliment or if he liked the fact he had been remembered, but either way she didn't really care so long as he just smiled.

"Well," She continued, stretching a bit. "I need to head over to the corral. Since the cuccos are all fed, you can take it easy or get some fresh air for the next three hours or so. Then it'll be time to milk the cows again, so hopefully your hands aren't too cramped. You're going to need that stamina."

"I can imagine." He answered. "My hands are a bit tender now..."

"Heehee...this is an easy morning, actually. Wait until tonight when the hay gets here. Now I'll be checking on you with the cows the second time, but I hope to see you've improved or we're in trouble."

"Maybe you could give me another 'easy' job since you're better at milking..."

"No can do. Not unless you're a much better 'horse whisperer' than you are with Epona." She giggled back. "See you around!"

* * *

Malon's attitude shifted considerably once she got to Shanna.

Even with her starting to roll more into caring for the mustang, things had gone from bad to worse. She was barely eating at all now and she was losing weight to an unhealthy level. She took rather long getting up too, and barely walked more than two laps around the corral. If she kept this up, then even if she did have a turnaround it might be too late. She wasn't sure if her condition was deteriorating simply due to some feedback over her own behavior at this point, although she somehow doubted that was the case. She was more afraid that this was just her simply losing the will to go on.

 _And I thought caring for Link was bad. Give me a human that's "given up" over a horse any day of the week..._

 _At least people can tell you what's bothering them...even if they never do._

Link did indeed do better the second time, although Malon still had to step in and finish; a bit to her chagrin. The third time he managed a decent enough pace, although by that point he was looking definitely sore. That was nothing compared to when Talon returned with the hay, however. He insisted on helping out in moving it, and he only got through about six bales before he was sweating, panting, and looking on the point of collapse. While he could do more, Malon made him stop at that point. She realized any more and he'd be too sore to do anything. As it was, he was shaking so much at dinner he could barely keep food on his fork.

Sure enough, the next day he looked almost sorer than he had when he arrived. However, now knowing what he needed to do, he got up and went to it. Malon actually handled the first milking. Link was good enough with the cuccos, so she figured he should be left to them. They definitely ate better for him than they did with Mr. Ingo. After that, she headed back to work with Shanna once again.

Normally, Shanna would have actually deteriorated. Malon found she only had to invest the same amount of effort to get her up, get some food into her, and then get her out to the corral for the same two laps she did yesterday. Some might see this as an improvement, but she knew better. She still wasn't eating enough to rebuild her size. She was still losing weight, and at this point she wasn't sure when she'd be strong enough to try going for some real running, letting alone bearing a rider. Of course, she needed to worry about more than that. Namely the fact that she was a couple days at most from not getting up at all...

"I'm done."

Malon had her thoughts so focused on the mustang she nearly gave a yelp. If Shanna had been stronger, she might have sprung away in fright from the reaction she gave. As it was, she turned in alarm to the fence and saw who had given the call. Link was standing there idly and looking in on her.

"She doesn't look good. Worse than Epona did." He continued.

"She _is_ worse." Malon sighed. "I can barely get her to do two laps. She's not eating nearly enough. She'll get sick again soon if she isn't already."

Link turned his brow. "She's…not sick now? Then why is she so thin? Did her last owner abandon her?"

Malon wistfully chuckled and shook her head. "It's not nearly that simple." She looked again to the mare, who continued to give her the same dull look as always, and she exhaled as she leaned over and patted the side of her neck again.

"...She used to be a war horse. Part of Hyrule's breeding stock and bloodline." She gave a nod to him. "Epona is the same line."

"I never knew she was bred to be a war horse."

"Well, she was a bit of an oddity. Smaller than she should have been, and she was a lot wilder. Shanna, though...she was something else. She took to it much more easily. There's not much fighting in Hyrule anymore, but the king still gets into skirmishes from time to time. Mostly over near the Gerudo Valley, or when they need to kill Dodongos who got too big. That sort of thing. Those needed armored knights every now and then to charge into battle. The one always at the head was Shanna."

She looked back to the horse and smiled.

"I could see it ever since she was little. She wasn't like the others. She never spooked. She never shied away from any of the birds. I even saw her charge a Stalchild when she was a filly. But she wasn't mean. Oh no, not at all. She was easy to train. She just knew no fear and took to riders real easily. Even ones that were fully armored. She always took the captain first out and she was always the last back, no matter what came at her. Spears, teeth, nails, even fireballs...she would just keep on going."

Her hand went out and went over her body. Link looked, and Malon slowly traced out irregularities in the fur.

"A lot of scratches and cuts here... They're not from neglect. They're from her riding out and taking her share of hits. She healed each time, though, and was just as bold next time. Sometimes while she was still healing. She really liked the captain. He treated her well, and she seemed to realize that it was her 'duty' to get him out into battle just as it was his to make the effort worthwhile. The two of them..." She exhaled. "You know...just some horses. You know they're meant for greatness. I knew it when I saw her. She received more honors than any other horse in the king's service. She even got the King's Valor symbol." She smirked. "Imagine that. Giving it to a horse."

Link looked over the horse a bit more. It was hard to imagine the mare as she was now had ever been capable of such deeds. Aside from the fact of how withered and ill she looked, she no longer had any sort of fiery or proud demeanor. Her mood was more that of an old mule who was worn out from too much plowing, and would like nothing better to do now but lie down and breathe her last.

Malon's own look faded as she watched her.

"About two years ago, the king ordered an attack on the Gerudo rather than a counter-raid. Although they never attack women or children, they raided a dignitary from another country, and the king was blamed for it for tolerating them so long. It was the biggest campaign organized in years, and Shanna and the captain were at the front. When the Gerudo cut the bridge to try and stall them, she led the charge of a group of knights to jump the chasm and lead the charge. They planned on barreling through the first rows of the thieves and reaching the extendable bridge the Gerudo were using. Use their own bridge to bring over the others. But they didn't see that there was a second wave waiting for them. These ones had halberds hidden..."

Her voice trailed momentarily.

"...It ended up being the biggest rout in years too. Most of those who made the jump were killed, horse and rider, and the rest went missing. After negotiating for a month, the Gerudo let the king have the bodies of the dead. They didn't want men 'dirtying up their graveyards' or 'attracting buzzards'. The captain was one of them. The horses had already been cut up for meat and leather, so the thought was Shanna had died in the charge.

"Then a couple months ago, someone spotted a horse like Shanna running wild. After a few more sightings, they realized it had to be her. But she had gone feral. She was running wild all over Hyrule Field. No one could approach her. No one could call her. Whenever anyone saw her, they almost thought she was a specter...the way she ran like a wild spirit or demon...charging by and then vanishing into the night or mist. Some thought she was even her ghost roaming the field.

"But about a month before you showed up, she wound up here. She walked right up to the gate and waited to be let in. When she came in...she was like she was now. Only with this..."

She leaned over and pointed around the joint of her rear leg. A rather large freshly-covered scar was over it, along with missing fur that had been shorn off.

"Bad cut there. It hit the tendon. She could barely put any weight on it. It was infected too. We cleaned it up and patched it, and the folks we bring up here are good about caring for horses. But..." She shook her head. "I think she knew it as much as I did. It was never going to be the same again. Her charging days were over. I'm not even sure if she'll ever manage a trot with a rider. Especially not now."

"Is she still infected?" The young man asked.

"No, that's all cleared up. There was some malnutrition, but nothing too heavy. Nothing you wouldn't expect from a mustang. But...well, you can see her for yourself now."

"What's wrong?"

"Isn't it clear? She's lost her will to live."

Link only looked confused at that. Malon turned to him after a moment, noticing his look.

"Something wrong?"

"I don't get it. A horse can actually do that?"

The rancher girl frowned slightly. "Animals on a ranch aren't just 'things' that breathe, eat, breed, and die. They have feelings. They can be more like humans than you'd ever think. Don't you think Epona would mourn you if you died? She was _waiting_ for you while you were gone. Ever since the day she met you she knew you'd ride her one day. I'm sure of it."

Link didn't react to this. If anything, he went more still than before.

"The captain was Shanna's best friend. Her comrade. I think, with him gone, she realized there was no point in going back to Hyrule Castle. Even if she got another rider, it would never be the same. She would never have the same relationship or understanding. So...she lost her will."

The young man was quiet for a moment.

"…If she lost her will, then why didn't she act like this a long time ago? Why only now?"

Malon was still. When she spoke again, her voice lowered.

"I think it was because she went out searching for where she fit in to everything. Where she was supposed to go without her friend…or her captain…maybe even her purpose. She thought she'd find it by still being the proud 'war horse' she used to be. But once she got hurt…once she realized she'd never be that horse again…she thought there was nothing left. So she was ready to give up."

Link didn't answer. The two were silent. Malon, on her part, had turned her thoughts mostly to Shanna. She swore the horse could understand her as she related her tale. But she hoped someone else was understanding it too. It wasn't until she sat there and found herself relating it to Link that she began to see the connection. Or, at least, what she hoped was a connection. There was no way to tell for certain. Not unless something changed. But the young man said no more. She didn't even hear him move. Had he walked off? Was he still standing there? Was he thinking?

His voice finally sounded again behind her. It was still low and quiet, and once again reluctant. He paused once or twice in the middle of saying it, but finally put it all out.

"When I was a baby…my mother, as she lay dying, put me at the roots of the Great Deku Tree…and with her last breath she begged him to care for me. …I never knew her."

That was all.

After a time, Malon turned her head and looked over to Link, but she saw nothing. He was already gone. She caught only a glimpse of his back before he went back into the barn.

He was quiet most of the rest of the day. But then again, so was Malon. Her thoughts were once again held captive by thinking about the 'fairy boy'.

* * *

Malon was the one who ended up being more vocal bright and early the next day. She signified it the moment she burst into his room…well, _her_ room, but him still staying in there…with such a start that even his normally morose self gave a jump from under his sheets.

"Link! Hurry! I need your help!"

The young man had scarcely poked his head up and looked to Malon, his wits still sleepy and realizing who was talking to him and what they were saying, when he sprung to life. Had Malon had more of her own sense about her, she would have realized that this was the first thing Link had done energetically since he arrived. The moment he realized that she needed help, he seemed to practically explode out of bed and into his clothes.

Looked like he _could_ be active if someone needed his help…

She was glad for it as she quickly led him downstairs and outside toward the stables. As she ran, the idea did enter her head as to why, of all people at the ranch, she had decided to wake him. It really didn't make much sense. He was barely strong enough to help out with the hay at this point. Mr. Ingo or her father would have made more sense, even if she knew Mr. Ingo wouldn't have his heart in it as much. Yet she felt like going for him that morning instead.

It was still dark out when the two emerged. Only then did Link think to speak.

"What's going on?"

"I heard a loud noise from the stable while I was still in bed. I ran out to see what was going on, and Shanna had fallen. I tried to get her up, but…I can't." There was a clear tremble of fear in her voice. "She won't put out enough effort. After a couple times, she stopped trying…"

"Maybe she just needs to lie down for a bit and eat…"

The rancher girl immediately shook her head as she reached the doors and quickly opened them. "No, not in her bad shape. If she doesn't get up she's just going to get worse at it until she can't get up at all. Then…" The fear in her tone increased. She didn't really need to finish to let Link know what this meant. In her current condition, this would very well be the beginning of death throes.

Shanna's stall was close to the entrance. It had to be, as little as she walked. She was exactly where Malon had left her a few minutes ago, lying on the ground with her hooves somewhat curled up and not even making an effort to rise. She quickly went to one side and gestured to him. "Get opposite me. I'll show you how we'll try to lift her."

Link, a bit reluctant but only due to inexperience, began to do what he was told. He looked around the stable as well, however. "I don't know if the two of us alone can do much for a full grown horse… You have some sort of crane over there…"

"I may have to use that too before we're done, but if she can only get up and walk around with the aid of that then that's not much better." She answered. "I want to see if she can stand without it." She sighed. "What I _really_ want is for her to eat more and try and rebuild her strength and muscle, but…" She shook her head. "Nevermind. Let's just get her up."

It took a bit of coaching, and Link had to be told a few times what was the right way to do it, but eventually they got into position and started the effort of trying to get her up. Unfortunately, it didn't do much good. Both put what strength they had into it, and Malon spoke to the mare as encouragingly and softly as she could. They got her to try three more times, but each time she ended up slumping down once again. Eventually, the horse gave up and lay there once more.

"Epona really liked that song you used to sing to her." Link suggested. "Maybe she will too."

Malon sadly shook her head. "I have to play that for her just to get her to eat nowadays… And I tried before I got you."

"Then let's try the crane."

The rancher girl nearly said the next step would be to fetch Mr. Ingo or Talon to help, but she paused. She realized she was alone with Link in the stable, and that he was actually more energetic and talkative than he had been in a while. In the end, she agreed to use the crane.

As it turned out, it was Epona herself who was hitched to the other end. The mare was more than eager. She seemed to have been ready to do something with Link for a while now, and even if it was only doing a routine farm chore she liked the idea. Malon herself didn't want to support her; just give her a sharp enough tug to hopefully jar her into getting up, then standing on her own four legs. Luckily, she had done several of these in the past and knew how to set it up and get the most effort out of the endeavor. And it helped that Link could call out commands to Epona and she would obey. Once the crane was set up and both she and Link were on either side, he told her to go while both of them lifted up. Luckily, it worked on the first try. Whether due to trying again or simply discomfort, Shanna got up and, with a bit of a shake and tremble, got her legs underneath her and stood.

Malon let out a long exhale as she went up to her side. "Alright." She said as she began to undo the crane hoist. "Let's see if we can get you to eat this morning… You have to try, Shanna. You don't want to die by starving yourself, do you?"

"Why do you talk to her like that? Can she understand you?"

The rancher girl looked up and over to Link when he asked that. She nearly frowned a bit, but she realized that it was likely a bit odd seeing her talking to the horses the way she did. At any rate, she looked back to the animal and kept working.

"Even if they don't know exactly what words you're saying, they can understand the meaning behind them. Your body language and tone. Animals can pick up on that sort of thing. Some people call it 'smelling fear', but smell and fear have nothing to do with it. They're like anyone. If you feel a certain way about them or are trying to tell them something, they understand. That's why you can't fake it around a horse. Especially not ones from the stock Epona and Shanna are from. They're too smart."

Link was quiet a moment as she finished undoing the harness. Exhaling, she turned to him. "I'm going to go get some fresh hay. Maybe she'll eat off of that…"

The young man hesitated, but then spoke up again. "Even if she could get healthy again, what would she do? You said she couldn't be a war horse anymore, and that's what she was best at."

Malon paused herself after hearing that. She couldn't help but notice Link's choice of words at the end, as well as his upturned voice. He sounded genuinely interested.

"…That'll be up to Shanna."

"Up to Shanna?"

"I told you she's smarter than you think. She can't be a war horse anymore, no. She'll hurt herself again if she tries doing one of her old charges. But besides that, it depends on how badly she wants to heal and run again. I'm willing to match whatever effort she puts into getting her leg better again, so it'll be up to her how far she goes. She might be able to get to hauling loads, pulling carriages or wagons, or even carrying a rider. There's a chance she might get good enough to trot or even a slow gallop. It's not very likely, no, but I've seen horses pull off miracle recoveries."

"But you started with 'might'. If she gets better but can't do any of that, what then?"

 _Sure seems interested in Shanna all of the sudden…_ Malon thought.

"Well…she's from a good stock. We can keep her on the farm and breed her at least."

Malon got a surprise on saying that. For a moment, it looked as if the color had drained from Link's face. In an instant, his new health and vigor appeared to leave him, and he suddenly appeared as hollow as he had been when he arrived. She blanched a bit at that. She didn't know why it impacted him, but that was clearly the wrong thing.

"D-Don't get me wrong." She nearly stammered. "I'd rather she didn't end up doing that. I know she'd be happier running around. But…it's…well, we're not a charity here. This is a ranch. We couldn't afford to keep her if we couldn't do something with her."

Link said nothing. However, the color gradually returned to his face. He stabilized and straightened again, although his look had turned morose once more. He stood silently for about five seconds, but then finally broke and nodded.

"I understand. Yeah… That's what you do here."

Malon hesitated. While Link didn't necessarily sound hostile to her, the wording made her a bit uneasy. Something had come over him on hearing all of that. Fearful that she was making him more uncomfortable the longer she stayed there, the rancher girl moistened her lips, adjusted her shawl, and then began to turn again.

"…Alright, I'll be right back with the hay. Don't go anywhere just yet. Maybe she'll eat if _two_ people try encouraging her."

The young woman continued to think about Link's reaction as she went out to get the hay. He had definitely reacted when she said that one phrase to him. But what did that mean? Although he had opened up a bit more about himself, it was still small details. Nothing she could piece together. Nothing that indicated why he had that ocarina or that old, rusted dagger. And why would it matter so much to him whether she ate? Nevertheless, her thoughts gradually faded regarding him and back to the horse by the time she reached the hay loft. She didn't collect much. After all, Shanna barely ate as it was, and if she put down just an armful that would be miraculous to her.

On her way back inside the stable, however, she stopped and looked.

Link was up next to Shanna, much as she herself often did to the tamer horses. Normally they didn't care for strangers looking them in the eye, but even if Shanna had been a more ill-tempered horse she currently had little disposition to bother being aggressive or looking away. He was hunched up to the side of her and speaking quietly into her ear. Malon couldn't make out what he was saying, only noticed that his own face wasn't nearly as gentle as hers had been. It was more tight. Darker.

"What are you doing?"

The young man looked up with a mild start, as if he was somewhat stunned that he had been caught in the act. He paused a moment, moistening his lips.

"Nothing." He answered as he moved away. "Just…trying to do what you do."

Malon frowned a bit in response as she advanced again. "That might be alright for a horse as sick as Shanna or for Epona, but don't just go around doing that to any horse. They know me." She explained as she came to Shanna's trough and dumped the hay inside. "Some of them don't like strangers. Some are only green broke. They'll give you a bite if you get too close to their head like that."

"I thought it looked alright."

The young woman still frowned. "Well, you got lucky this time. Just make sure you ask me next time you want to handle horses and I'll…"

By this point, Malon had trailed off.

She was still slow about it. She seemed to nearly be forcing herself to do it. However, for the first time in weeks, Malon saw that Shanna hadn't turned her nose at the hay. Instead, she had gone right up to the trough and was eating away.

The rancher girl was nearly dumbfounded. She almost thought she was imagining things. It was only a little hay, but she hadn't seen her eat it looking even remotely like a hungry horse since before she could remember. But she didn't stop at a few mouthfuls either. As soon as she got down one bite, she went for another, and she just kept on going. She actually stood there silently and just watched her eat for a bit, until it became clear she wasn't going to stop until she had eaten everything.

As she kept chewing, Malon finally looked back up to Link. But he wasn't looking at her or Shanna anymore. His head had turned to the outside, looking out past the corral and over to Hyrule Field. His back was to her. She heard him inhale.

"…I tell you the truth…and you'll never believe me."

For a moment, the only noise was Shanna slowly chewing. Malon stood there and stared at his back, not risking getting closer; again not wanting to do anything to revert anything. Her question had been wanting to know how he had gotten her to eat. But she had the feeling that might have been what this was about.

He didn't wait for an answer from her, for her to say "yes I will" or "try me". Perhaps he already knew she would say that just by virtue of the fact she hadn't moved and was watching him. He inhaled deeply. Again, he seemed to "gain years".

"When I was seven years old, I saved Hyrule. Not long after I met Epona right here in front of you."

What happened over the next hour was a tale Malon would never have dreamed of. He told her how seven years ago the leader of the Gerudo had attempted to gain the Golden Power to turn himself into a king great enough to rule Hyrule and all the lands and even worlds beyond. He told her how he had been led by the Great Deku Tree just prior to his demise to Hyrule Castle, guided by his emissary and Link's own friend, a fairy named Navi; the very same she had seen that one day that led her to call him "fairy boy". There he met Princess Zelda herself and embarked a quest across Hyrule to collect the Spiritual Stones that would have opened the way to the Golden Power in Castle Town's Temple of Time, along with the "key" - the very ocarina he now possessed. But on opening it, things grew "complicated" to say the least. Even now Malon had a hard time following it and understanding all of the strange rules involved, but far from getting the Golden Power himself, just the opposite happened: it fell into the leader of the Gerudo's hands anyway. Yet because he was evil, Link himself got a part of it as did the princess, and Link found himself chosen to be the hero who would defeat him. Yet being too young at the time, he fell asleep for seven years until he was old enough.

This was where things truly began to confuse Malon. He said the time they were living in right now should have been a nightmarish world. One tormented by evil and mostly a ruin; haunted by the undead and wrathful spirits. He said that Malon herself was reduced to near servitude under Mr. Ingo, who had grown corrupt and cruel in this dark world; taking over the ranch, driving off her father, and mistreating the animals. Yet that was practically a kindness compared to what happened to the bulk of the rest of Hyrule. He said he had eventually saved that world by defeating the evil king, but to try and keep it from ever happening in the first place, the princess sent Link back in time to where everything had begun. While the future was saved, it was a future that neither Malon nor anyone else would ever see or even know about.

Yet his story didn't end there. On the contrary, that was just the beginning. It didn't take long for the young man to realize times had changed. His former friends no longer looked at him the same way, and neither did he. People saw him differently. His old home no longer was welcome to him. He pondered for a while why this was so, but finally realized it. While he was back in his younger body, he was older now inside. That brought him to the time when Malon saw him again, and he had taken Epona from the ranch. He said that was because he was looking for Navi. She had left him as soon as his quest was done, and Link sought to find her. He thought at the time it was to reunite with a friend. Now, he realized, it was partially because he wished to reclaim some of his childhood and innocence he had lost.

It wasn't to be. Far from regain anything, he lost even more. He said his travels took him to far off places more monstrous and unsettling and bizarre than anyone could imagine. He would only tell her some of them. In particular, at one point he began to mention a place called Termina, but then he turned even more deathly pale and quickly refused to say any more. He said the bottom line was he only grew older and more worn out as a result of his travels. Most restless as he continued to find new battles to fight and continued to end up empty, alone, and without a place he belonged after he was done.

Malon wasn't sure she believed him about all of this. It was far too fantastic of a tale. And yet, she realized she definitely didn't _disbelieve_ him either. The story did make sense, after all. And it explained quite a bit. After a time, she began to slowly realize it didn't matter whether she believed it or not. _He_ clearly believed it. A man didn't starve himself to death, leave his wounds untreated, and run himself and his horse into sickness on the verge of collapse not believing that sort of story and the way he said it. And if it was real to Link, as impossible as it seemed, then it was effectively real for Malon as well.

"So why did you come back?" She found herself finally asking.

This elicited such a great pause that Malon thought he had decided to go silent once again. He was quiet, staring off to one side, for a full minute.

"I don't really know. All I know is I felt as if something was drawing me back here. Back to Kakariko Village. I don't know what...and I don't know why. I don't know if it's something like what started everything, if it's some other 'adventure', or if it's just my imagination hoping that there was something left for me back in Hyrule."

Finally, he looked back to her. His face was strong enough, but his eyes were more hallow and troubled than she had ever seen them.

"...All I know is I'm tired. I'm tired of wandering. I'm tired of fighting. I feel like a tool that was once sharp and fine, and now is dull and rusted. I feel...hollow. Emptied. Worn out and moth-eaten. I want to remember what it was like to be content. Even happy. I want to walk some place and feel as if I'm 'home' when I get there. And barring that..."

He hesitated.

"...Barring that...I want this just to _end_. No matter what has to happen to finally end it all."

Malon shifted slightly at that. She didn't have to ask for elaboration to know what _that_ meant.

"That's why I can't go back to Kakariko Village. Honestly...I'm scared. I don't know what's going to be there, but I feel deep inside it's not anything good. But I can't do this anymore. I can't keep wandering without any place to go. I can't keep riding down the road knowing there's no one waiting for me behind or in front of me. I was willing to do it because I knew people needed me. This world wouldn't change if not for me, but..." His eyes closed as his head lowered. "...I'm not a machine. I can't do this forever."

Inhaling again, he looked up to her. "But the worst part, the very worst part, is that I don't know what to do. Even if I could settle down, that scares me as much as continuing on the road. What do I do with the rest of my life? All I know how to do is fight. All I know how to be is 'the hero'. But none of the stories ever said what happened to the hero after he road off into the sunset."

The rancher girl spoke after a moment of silence. "What made you decide to tell me this now? Did you trust me enough to believe you?"

He shook his head. "That's not it. It's..."

He trailed off. He looked again to Shanna, who had finished her hay by now. Normally Malon would have immediately grabbed an armful more. Not now.

He exhaled. "Maybe I finally wanted to tell someone the truth. Maybe I wanted someone else to know besides myself. And maybe I thought it should have been Navi...but she's not here. No one's ever here. So I decided to tell you."

A pause, then he shook his head.

"No...that's not it alone." He turned his head to one side, looking at the horse.

"It's her. I heard you talk to me about her, and...I realized I saw myself in her. We're both creatures that are past our prime but we won't be dying soon. And neither of us want it to end here, but we're not sure where to go."

Malon didn't quite believe that part. She still remembered the look that came over Link's face when she mentioned that one phrase. Something about it had struck him far worse than anything else. Something in it had broken him. But she had no idea what. And nothing in his story seemed to call it out.

Seeing as he looked finished, she thought of what he had said. She noticed that his voice had changed when he spoke of Princess Zelda, and of the ocarina. She wasn't sure if it still had any of that power he claimed it did, but even if it didn't, she thought that it would be something important to him based on who had given it to him. She had actually seen the princess a few times. She normally stayed completely in the castle. After all, she was being groomed heavily by her father to be the next ruler of Hyrule. But even the castle desired the milk from Lon Lon Ranch, and she had made deliveries of her own once or twice. She spotted her every once in a while. She didn't seem to be the more cold, aloof, and uncaring type of noble like so many others could be, but at the same time she was still something set apart. Something above everyone else. A person who set herself on a higher level not out of pride or vanity but out of personal choice to not associate with anyone. To be, pretty much, what her father wanted her to be: the ruler of Hyrule and nothing more or less. Still, she was quiet lovely. And her virtue was greater than that of most girls, from what she heard. Link had certainly aimed high, whether it was entirely his choice or not. And he _did_ receive the ocarina...

Again, that little fire that made her insides twist burned inside of her.

However, she realized it was for nothing. She had never sent out for him. Never made inquiries. Talon, as big-mouthed as he could be, had to have mentioned Link once or twice in the castle. No response had come, and, in spite of his reactions, Link didn't look like he was expecting one. It was like he said; once he was done being useful, he was forgotten. It seemed everyone he ever touched, even ones he rescued if his story was true, eventually left him. Thought of him no more as a passing dream or childish fantasy.

And on thinking that, the girl suddenly realized something that nearly made her take a breath.

 _Everyone..._

 _...Except me._

"She needs more hay, doesn't she?"

Malon was so stunned at her own revelation that she looked up to Link in near-surprise. However, he innocently stared back. He seemed to have snapped out of his own emotions for the moment.

"...What?"

He gestured to the bin. "She ate it all. Do you think we can feed her more? That wasn't a lot. Epona eats more than that in the morning alone."

"Hmm?" She looked to the bin, and what she was up to came fully back to her. "Oh...oh yes! Yes! Let's get more! As much as she can eat!"

Link paused, but on seeing her snapped out of it, he gave a nod.

"Alright. I'll lend a hand."

* * *

Once again, he was quiet for most of the rest of the day. This time, Malon honestly didn't know why. If he had depressed himself again with this talk, or if he had started brooding about something else as a result of it. She only slowly realized a good reason he had said nothing until now was likely because he wasn't trying to think of it, or his dread at what going to the village might mean. It looked as if, for now, he wasn't going anywhere. But she couldn't tell if he was better or worse for having told her all of that. His face gave no indication.

Yet as time went on, her thoughts went away from the thought of losing him and more to him personally. She realized now why he was sad. Why he had been so unresponsive to care and blasé about whatever anyone did for him made sense now. It had been seven years of this. By now he was probably too disheartened to try anything. And if it only meant more fighting and wandering…

Malon wasn't the most "social butterfly" in the world, but she knew she had her father, Mr. Ingo, the animals, and even her responsibilities at the ranch. There were people in town who knew her and would say hi to her. Even boys who would do a little more than that. She had a place where she belonged. Link didn't. And as she continued to work and think about him, starting to think of him more in terms of a horse like Shanna, she began to realize just how miserable and alone he had to feel. What more, she wasn't sure she could really do anything to improve that.

If all of that had really happened to him, then what could she say? She couldn't even honestly say something pat such as "I know how you feel".

 _Maybe I was wrong… Maybe 'fixing humans' is worse than fixing horses…_

By the time evening had arrived, she was still puzzling over what to do. She found herself waiting outside with Link near the front gates. While there was little danger of any threat coming in, they still wanted to bar the gate as soon as Talon and Ingo arrived with a second load of hay. There were only a few last minute chores to do before the final task would be moving the hay into the loft. Malon herself had finished sorting the eggs from the cucco coop and loosened her shawl, for it was getting warmer at this time of year and she wouldn't be needing it again today. When she headed out front, she saw Link was simply sitting there against the side of the house quietly, still brooding as before.

Her mouth twisted as she neared him, again wishing she could find something to say to him. Something that would make him feel better or give him a greater sense of belonging. She almost felt now that she _had_ to. She was the only one who had remembered him all this time, even if it was only for a short while. Yet whenever she wasn't being playful or teasing, she found herself always tongue-tied around him. And it was only worse now.

 _What do I know about adventures and monsters and all that other stuff?_ She asked herself. _People think of me as pretty rough because I know how to do an honest day's work on a ranch, but that's not the same thing. And that's all I know. I don't think I've ever been much farther than Hyrule Field my whole life. Not that I mind it… It's just it's nothing like what he went through…_

Yet as she thought about that, an idea sprang to mind. It wasn't much, but it was something. And it was something she wagered Link hadn't ever thought about before. Deciding to take a chance on being right, she walked forward until she was right behind him.

He actually turned and looked to her as she neared, realizing she was coming. That in and of itself was an improvement. He used to ignore her completely. However, he didn't offer much else.

"Hey there." Malon asked with a hint of a smile.

Link gave a short nod of acknowledgement. Practically rude for most people, but for him yet another milestone.

She smiled a bit wider. Then, without warning, she shot forward and grabbed his hand.

The young man looked up in a bit more alarm at that. "What are..."

"Come on." She said, already pulling him off the wall. "I want to show you something."

Link looked confused, but didn't resist. Although he was looking stronger every day and by now could probably oppose her, he let himself be pulled off and dragged along. Within a few moments, the two of them were at the cucco coop, and Malon led him to the back of the hutch. It was only when she got to the baskets of eggs that she let him go.

He actually rubbed his wrist a bit from where she seized him. "What wrong?"

"Nothing. Just thought you might like to see what to look forward to from your work. Look."

Malon gestured to the baskets of eggs. Link, still rather puzzled, looked at them.

There was a clear difference between the two baskets. While both were filled with eggs, one had eggs that might as well have been oversized deku nuts. The other had ones that were of the larger variety and distinctly more egg-shaped.

"So tell me, which do you think you'd prefer for a three egg omelette?"

The young man still looked confused, but gestured to the one with the larger eggs. "Those, I suppose. But…why show me this? And which eggs came from here?"

"Both came from here." Malon answered, leaning over and patting the side of the coop.

He turned his head to her. "But…all of your cuccos are about the same size…"

"Size might not have anything to do with it." She answered. "The smaller ones come from the cuccos Mr. Ingo feeds on his shift when I'm off milking. The larger ones come from when Talon scatters feed." She smiled a bit more. "Can't wait to see how big yours get, eh?"

"Is he starving them?"

She shook her head. "Nope. He throws out the same amount. But he tries to hurry them up to get them to eat so he can move on. He dumps it all out in piles rather than even scatters it, so they all end up fighting over the same clumps and the big ones get the most. And he shouts, so many of them end up running or startled when he gets them out and puts them back in. Because of all that, the eggs don't get as big when he does it." She grinned again. "They seem to like you even more than Talon. So maybe they'll get even bigger for you. But yeah, I bet you'd never know these eggs all came from the same cuccos, would you?"

"I wouldn't." He admitted.

"A lot of folks think that all there is to raising cuccos, or anything for that matter, is just throwing food at them and giving them a place to sleep. But there's a lot to think about. We have to do counts on these. We have to think about how big the eggs are that we're getting from what cuccos and how often, and how much they're eating and how much they're putting out. If we get three eggs from most cuccos and only two from another that eats the same in the same time, most would say that's the 'loser' in the group. But how big are the eggs compared to the others? If the feed changes and we get less, then how do we know which cucco is worth holding out on and which is…well…'ready for the frying pan'? You have to also watch out for weather, or what happens when one of the guays pecks at their roof all night, and all kinds of stuff like that.

"And the thing is, all things considered, cuccos are easy to raise. They're nothing like the cows. Or the horses. They don't take nearly as much work. Horses you have to watch what they eat all the time. Cows you have to make sure don't get sick and get the rest of the herd sick. And when something _does_ get sick, horse or cow, you've seen for yourself how much work it is to make sure they get well again. And that's not counting all the work we do getting things ready for market and carrying them out, or how much we do to try and raise money in festivals or races."

Link showed only a little reaction to this, but he did seem to take in all that she was saying. And it seemed he was getting a better idea of just all what was involved on a ranch. In truth, he had been getting it rather light, and he had only been watching Malon on light duty. Normally there was far more to do than that. "You sound like you stay rather busy."

"We do. But…look at this."

Link suddenly recoiled a bit, as Malon picked up one of the large eggs and held it right in his face. He blinked at her, but she kept smiling.

"It took me four years to get eggs this big out of cuccos. When I first started feeding and tending them, I did it all wrong. Most of them didn't get a yield at first, and when they did they were always eggs that were good for nothing. I was too little and rough with them, and I wasn't making sure they all got fed or stayed warm or a bunch of other things. I had to learn a lot. And I lot of that only came from experience. But when I got eggs this big, the biggest we ever got on the ranch…it meant the world to me. I felt so proud of myself. I thought of how good it would be to eat these kind of eggs and how many rupees it would bring in, but most of all I thought about how happy my dad would be when he got his first breakfast made from them."

She pulled away and put the egg back in the basket.

"Most people don't pay us much mind, Link. Oh, sure, they talk about how good Lon Lon Milk is sometimes, or how nice a horse is that was raised here, but the fact is we're 'common folk'. Just ranchers. No one looks to us to make big decisions about what's going to happen in towns or villages. No one comes knocking on our door looking for magic stones or how to get through the Lost Woods or Gerudo Desert or anything. And if we were gone tomorrow, a few people would be sad, but life would go on. It wouldn't be anything people would look at years from now and cry about, or would make any big, fancy monuments too. I mean…" She wistfully snickered and gestured out to patch of wildflowers near the house. "My mother is buried right over there. It was a lean year when she died and we couldn't afford a plot. If something came along and knocked down the ranch, no one would even know she was there."

She looked back to him.

"But you know what? I think it's still important. Maybe nice big eggs don't keep Hyrule from being an awful place, but people still like making nice fresh omelets at inns for the guests out of them, and everyone who eats breakfast there wants one. Maybe people would get by with whatever milk they can raise, but kids still ask for Lon Lon Milk and they always have more energy after they drink it. And maybe people can walk or buy horses from traders, but they like riding ones that know this country and who are friendly enough to eat right out of their hands. What we do here makes people in Hyrule happy. It makes Hyrule _worth_ living in. Maybe it's not slaying evil kings or Golden Powers, but it's still something that takes work only we could do. A _lot_ of work. And it makes people happier. And that makes me proud of it."

Link was silent. He looked again to the basket of eggs with the larger ones inside of it. He stared at the basket, but at least he didn't look back to the ground. Malon, on her part, stood there…wondering if she had just said the right thing. She wasn't sure where exactly all of that had come from, but it was her attempt to "connect" with him. To show him that she understood him on some level; that there was a way one could look at the two of them and see the same thing. And she hoped, somehow, that in talking to him like this she had pointed out that there wasn't the need to be a great hero or adventurer to make a difference. Even if he "retired", he could still do it here.

Assuming he would have given an answer, Malon didn't get a chance to hear it. A voice shouted from around the corner toward the gate.

"Malon? Where are you and that young fella? Something wrong?"

The rancher girl nearly sighed at the interruption, especially since Link readily looked up to it. Her face twisted as she nearly shouted that they'd be right there but she was beaten to it.

"We're just checking the eggs, Mr. Talon! We'll be right there!"

This gave her a bit of a start, not used to Link speaking up first. But before she could give any further reaction, the young man looked to her and motioned as he turned. "After you."

Malon paused yet again. She wasn't sure if she could consider this latest turn good or bad. However, it _was_ different. Link usually never spoke up first or took charge in this sort of situation. He just followed her around. And while his tone hadn't improved too terribly much, he was definitely speaking out first now.

Hoping this meant she had been successful, she hazarded a small smile before leading the way back to the gate.

* * *

The next four weeks were much of this slightly improved Link. He talked a bit more now. He didn't hang his head so low as he used to. He approached his chores with vigor, and he neither mentioned Kakariko Village nor paid any mind to any future trips. Most people probably would have been very pleased with this improvement from him. On top of that he got better at working around the farm and his strength continued to increase. His near skeletal frame had slowly filled out to make him merely look on the scrawny side.

If that wasn't enough, his relation to Shanna was working. He whispered to her again from time to time. Malon never knew what exactly, but whatever it was it seemed to work. She ate more and slowly started to show signs of improvement. When spurred on by Link she would get up and start walking about. Malon had just started getting her to work on exercises again to try and see if they could reclaim her old demeanor and health. It was slow going to start with, but something had come over the horse. She seemed to have a new goal. A new drive to aim for. The rancher girl didn't know what, but she was glad for it. And if that wasn't enough, Link's eggs were indeed the biggest yet. For someone who seemed more of the strong type, he was unusually suited to feeding cuccos.

But in spite of all of these good things, and the fact Link looked like he'd be staying for the foreseeable future, there was still room for improvement. He was often quiet when he was on his own. He'd stare out at the horizon like he did through the window while in the barn, and there were times and even days where his head would hang low and he'd stay little. While he was fitting in more and more around the farm, he still had times where he'd walk slower than normal. Or he'd barely touch his food, even when it was clear that he was trying to force himself to do it.

Malon realized there was something still there. Perhaps he hadn't told her the whole story. Or, more to her anxiety, he wasn't finding what he was looking for here. Maybe he didn't realize it yet, but perhaps he would with a little more time.

When that happened, the rancher girl realized she was afraid. Afraid he'd get on Epona and leave again.

And this time, she'd never see him again.

Long before dawn that morning, Malon was up. She always had a tendency to get up early, as most people who lived on farms or ranches did. Today she was up even earlier. Ever since Link had moved in, she had relocated to a storeroom that wouldn't be filled until autumn. This edge of the house bore the brunt of the incoming weather. As a result, late at night, she heard it when the wind started to blow against the house. Loud enough for her to open her eyes.

Realizing what would be coming soon, she woke up soon after, got dressed, took up her bow and arrow quiver, and headed outside.

The wind was definitely blowing rather hard when she got there. Luckily the summer heat had come and she didn't have to worry about trying to hold her shawl down as she had left that indoors for now, although she'd be picking it up again by that evening. She knew that for a fact. She had seen this happen every year now and knew what came with it. She moved until she was standing in between the house and the barn and thereby protected from at least some of the wind throwing up her hair and dress wild, and then she stood and waited.

As the edge of the horizon began to tint blue with the coming morning, it finally happened. The wind died down. And in the fading moonlight and approaching dawn, the young woman was able to look across the field and see the surrounding fence. A flock of guays were now perched on it. Easily five times as many as had been present on any other evening, and probably more.

Seeing them, the girl exhaled and stepped out from the houses. Only now was there enough light wind for her to risk pulling this off. Soon after, she placed her feet, knocked an arrow, and fired a shaft at the distant flock.

Naturally, from this far away and with an obstruction to shoot over, the arrow didn't hit anywhere near the mark. It fell short within the track on the opposite side of the central pen. Frowning a bit, she knocked another arrow and fired again. This one was even worse. It went right over the edge of the fence and off the small cliff on the other side into Hyrule Field. She frowned even more at the thought of needing to reclaim that arrow later today, but she knocked another arrow and fired a third time.

This one finally landed in the midst of the guay, but was so far away from hitting any that none of them even fluttered from their spots.

"Oh! Come on!" She shouted, nearly throwing down her bow.

"What are you shooting at?"

Malon could never get over the fact every time Link called out to her, she jumped. Even after all this time she gave a start so sudden that she nearly spilled back. Quickly she turned to the voice behind her, and saw Link, also dressed, standing back in the gap between the houses.

"I heard something downstairs." He explained. "I knew you're normally still asleep a bit longer, so I went down and I saw your bow was missing. Is something wrong?"

Calming herself a bit, Malon took a deep breath and shook her head. "No, it's fine."

"Then…what are you shooting at?"

"Oh." She exhaled and gestured. "The wind woke me up. It suddenly picked up. At this time of year, that can only mean one thing. The summer rains are coming. We got until tonight before they slam the ranch hard. There'll be plenty of repair work to do tomorrow. Luckily we're on the high ground so we don't have to worry about flooding, but there's a good chance the roof in the barn or stable could burst. And the younger animals are going to be spooked, no doubts there. Pretty much the highlight of summer." She added with a smirk. "And tomorrow it'll be riding out to the summer fair for pony rides. We'll be hitting the sack hard by then."

Link blinked. "…It sounds like a lot, but it didn't really answer-"

"I was getting to that!" She retorted. "Alright…before it gets here, that wind drives a lot of things this way, including all the guay between here and Kakariko Village. They look for every nook and cranny on the farm to get out of the rain, and many of them try to nest there. If we let them, we'll be rooting them out and killing them when they peck at the horses and cattle clear into next autumn. So we got to drive them off now. And so…" She held up the bow.

The young man frowned a bit as he walked forward. "The bow can barely hit them from this far, let alone aim right. I know I'd have to hope to get lucky myself."

"Can't be helped. If I got close enough to get a good shot, with this many out there, the whole flock would come at me. It wouldn't be a pretty sight by the time I'd manage to run back into the house, and then they'd start flocking in the corral instead."

"Why not shoot them from horseback?"

Malon blinked. "…Excuse me?"

"Shoot them from horseback. You can get off a shot while still running and they won't be able to catch up with you. I used to do that with Epona."

The rancher girl stared blankly for a moment, before she smirked a bit and snickered. "Well, I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but raising horses for riding is one thing. Being some sort of trick rider is something else. I'm so weak an archer as it is I don't know if I'd be able to fire arrows from a horse that was just standing there. But if the horse was moving, then I'd really be out of luck. How am I supposed to steer a horse while aiming a bow? The horses here aren't trained for that."

"They're trained to run the track on their own, aren't they?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then get one of them to start running the track and you'll be fine. Even a slow gallop is enough to outrun those birds. You can just let the horse run while you shoot. You won't be able to do it from the get-go, no. You'll have to practice. But it would work better than what you're doing now."

The girl still looked a bit antsy. "I…I don't-"

"You're never going to be any good at things you don't even try to begin with." Link cut off, seeing her hesitation. "I'll help you."

At once, the unease vanished from Malon's face as her eyes widened.

"You…you will?"

"Sure. I'd like to show _you_ something for a change."

Hearing that, realizing it was Link volunteering to actually have _her_ come along with him on something, even if it was just him showing her how to do something he had to have mastered long ago, was the best offer Malon had gotten in recorded memory. While she still had her doubts about her ability to do this, she no longer cared. So long as he was willingly interacting with her. So long as he was willing to teach her something.

Smiling again, she gave an eager nod and a giggle.

"Alright, let's go! Lead the way!"

* * *

Malon had ended up making one slight adjustment to Link's original intention.

Both of them were at the track now. Link was in one lane, on the back of Epona, who seemed to be stamping her foot a bit. She wasn't used to wearing a saddle, it seemed, and was only taking to it with a bit of coaxing. At their side was Malon, riding on Shanna. She definitely didn't want to put her into a gallop or anything, especially since she was still fleshing out, but that would work for now as she didn't plan to do anything more than a walk for this first lesson. She could switch to Epona if she was going to take some real shots. While the sun was close to the horizon, the guay were still present. That was good timing for her. The only reason she could even shoot them now was because there was a lull in the coming winds. She knew by noon the last opportunity would have closed up, and long before supper the day would start growing gray and overcast. She needed to take some real shots at them before now, and as soon as the wind picked up they'd have to wait for another break. Luckily, it was holding for the time because she really didn't want to rush this.

On Malon's back was her bow and remaining arrows. That would be another limiting factor for this exercise; how many shots they could take. As for Link, he had taken up Talon's old bow. He was still asleep at the moment and hadn't exactly known they had taken it, but the rancher girl knew he wouldn't mind. He rarely used it any more himself, and Malon was the one who kept it in working order anyway. She just hoped it worked out as Link tested the string a few times, seeming uneasy about it.

"Sorry." He apologized after a while. "I'm just used to my old bow… It was shorter, but…" He paused, then shook his head. "Nevermind. Alright, let's get going."

He gave a kick to Epona's flanks, and she began to walk. Malon did the same to Shanna, whistling a bit as she was giving her a lighter one, and then she began to move. In moments both were proceeding in a slow walk around the track.

The girl giggled a bit at this. "I'm guessing at some point we're going to need to tie reins for this, but I think going this slow we're in good shape."

Link actually smirked a bit at that.

"…What's so funny?"

"I don't think I'd know what to do with reins if I had them." He answered. "Epona never needed a bridle. Not when I was young, and not when…you know…when I was an adult."

Malon blinked a bit at that. "Are you serious? Well, how do you let Epona know where to go? She was still only green broke when you picked her up all those years ago, and even when I could get her to take me she'd run wild if I didn't keep her steady. Are you saying you not only have been riding her guiding her with your legs for seven years but you learned mounted archery on her the same way?"

Link actually turned a bit red-faced at that. Swallowing, he reached for his quiver. "Alright, let's…give it a shot. What'll we use for a target?"

The girl let it slide, but she was amazed. There was one part about Link's story that no one could deny. Epona was made for him. She had to be. It was the only explanation how a half-wild horse bonded so quickly and readily with her owner. At any rate, she pulled out an arrow and knocked it. Link did much the same. After that, she looked around a bit, and finally focused on the side of the barn and a hand-painted bottle of Lon Lon Milk.

She nodded. "There."

Link looked. "Kind of a big target…"

She snickered. "I'll agree if I can hit it on the first go."

"Fair enough. And it'll be easier to reclaim the arrow. Take a shot."

To say it was awkward was an understatement. Malon felt highly unbalanced. She was used to having both feet planted on the ground when she did this, after all. She also only tentatively drew her arms back and didn't make the string nearly as taut as she did normally. In addition, she had a hard time aiming, fearful her shot would zing Shanna's ear. By the time she finally got off the shaft, it lobbed so pathetically that she probably could have done better throwing the arrow with her bare hand.

She huffed immediately afterward.

"Don't get mad." Link immediately reassured. "It was your first shot. You're not going to be great at it. There was this Big Poe I hunted for five days straight once before I got him."

"What's a 'Big Poe'?"

Grimacing again, Link ignored the question. "Here, draw another one. This time try to picture yourself seated stationary."

Malon drew another arrow and aimed. Unfortunately, she ended up doing roughly the same thing. She let out a groan of disgust.

"Easy there. You're still not picturing yourself seated stationary. Imagine you're on a saddle on the ground and shooting arrows."

Exhaling yet again, Malon drew a third arrow. They were almost done with this first pass, as long as it was taking. They'd have to wait for the loop around soon. However, she did her best to do what Link was saying. She imagined herself seated on one of the tethering posts rather than on a mare's back, the saddle straddled across it. She tried to think of the rhythmic, living movement underneath her as being nothing more than terra firma. With that in mind, she fired again.

The shot was stronger than the previous ones, but not by much. Just enough to go wild into the rock face of the boulders surrounding the barn and shatter on impact.

Malon let out a rather un-ladylike swear at that, one that made Link blush yet again, but was rather commonplace for hard days on the ranch. "I did what you said! I kept telling myself I wasn't moving and I was on the ground!"

The young man took a moment to compose himself, then spoke again. "Yes, I saw it that time. But I can tell your movements are really too jilted and unnatural. You're clearly afraid. I don't know if you're afraid of falling or hurting the horse, but you have to have the same confidence you would if you were on the ground."

She sighed, a bit gentler this time. "But I'm _not_ on the ground. I'm bobbing up and down and shifting left and right."

Link thought about that a moment, seeming to try and find a good way to put this. "Alright, you're not on the ground…but you trust Shanna, right?"

"Of course."

"And if this was a normal ride, you'd feel as safe on her back as you would on your own two feet, wouldn't you?"

Malon thought about that a moment. "Well…sure."

"Alright then. Think of it as a normal ride. Try not to think about the bow and arrow so much. Try to be as natural as you would if this was a regular old ride."

The rancher girl paused. That actually made a good amount of sense… She was getting so worked up about shooting arrows from horseback she was losing sight that, aside from that, this should have been a fairly routine situation. With that in mind, she used the time circling the track to get her head back into what was going on. She put the bow and the arrows out of her mind and concentrated on what was happening: a normal, easy ride she had done dozens of times before. She tried to focus solely on that and ignore anything else associated with it. Just her and Shanna. Just her and Shanna…

Finally, the milk bottle painting came around again. As it did, she went for another arrow. She stiffened at first, but then told herself this was just a ride. She knew her horse. She knew what she could and couldn't do on the back of her. She knew how much she could depend on her. Keeping that in mind, she brought the bow up and around and knocked the arrow. A moment later, she took aim, took three deep inhales and exhales, and fired.

A moment later, the arrow made a "thunk" as it landed about a foot to the right of the milk bottle painting.

"Oh…" Malon began to groan.

"No, no! That's great!" Link immediately cut off, his tone insistent. "Look how much better that was than your first three shots! You're getting it. Don't tense up."

Again, the rancher girl felt her anger melt away as she looked fully to Link. She saw him earnestly staring at her and reassuring her. He would have likely done the same for any friend, she knew. Yet on seeing him looking at her like that, in a way he hadn't yet since his arrival, and talking to her with compliments and encouragement… It made her feel good in a way she hadn't experienced before.

Just him telling her that she was doing better on her fourth shot almost made Malon wish to blush as well. And for a moment, when she looked to him, she could have sworn she saw him pause too and stare back at her. It was only passing, but the mere thought that it was there made her heart suddenly feel warmer and fuller than she thought possible.

"…Come on, get off another one while we're still on this pass."

Malon's smile returned as she gave an eager nod to that. She immediately went for another arrow.

Right now, she wanted to keep practicing mounted archery for the rest of her life.

* * *

It ended up lasting a long time. Longer than it should have, considering all the preparations to get ready for the rain. But the stillness in the wind lasted up to a couple hours past daybreak. Malon didn't recall neither she nor Link shooting a single guay, although she was fortunate in that regard. Since the still lasted so long, they eventually took up and flew again, trying to make it to the tree line before the storm came. Talon and Mr. Ingo were already up and at their own work when the two of them were still practicing, and yet when the wind finally did pick up, Malon felt like it had been only a half an hour.

She didn't realize until now just how warm inside she felt whenever Link smiled at her. Possibly because he did it so rarely, whether it be in front of her or for anything else. Even when he was seven, he barely smiled from what she recalled. He always looked so serious. Even before everything he said to him happened had happened. But maybe that was what Malon liked about him. It set him apart from any other boy she had ever met. It made her think he really was some sort of forest child rather than one of the city or farm kids.

Still, she didn't think she'd be this happy just from doing one little thing with him. She didn't think she would dwell on him so much and that it would bring a smile to her face like this.

Of course, as she realized this, she slowly realized something else.

 _Actually, he's been on my mind a lot. Even before he got here I was still thinking about him. I thought about him even more as I got older…which is weird. Most people forget other people when they get older, don't they?_

The two rode their horses back into the stable. Link dismounted Epona faster than Malon could believe. She had been around horses her whole life, yet he sprung on and off of Epona as easy as putting on a pair of pants. She herself was still getting Shanna back to her stall when he was already off.

"Pretty good for a first lesson." He admitted as he went up to her. "You got it in the milk bottle at least. But are you sure you don't want to practice on Epona?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. Got to let Shanna know that she's got a new goal: becoming a ranged cavalry." She giggled, patting the horse's side. To be honest, Shanna had held out better than she thought. She figured she'd have gotten too tired to keep it up for very long, but she seemed to push herself to keep going. If possible, she actually seemed more enthused than she was normally.

However, her smile ebbed just a bit shortly thereafter. As good as a time she was having, something was lingering in the back of her mind. Something that had been gnawing on her ever since that morning. Right now, she had never seen Link happier. But she still remembered all he said. And she still remembered how, at least when he arrived, he seemed intent on leaving again right away. And while he hadn't spoken of it in a while, he was in better shape than ever to go.

Therefore, she decided to risk saying what came out of her mouth next.

"I mean…besides… Epona will be leaving along with you…won't she?"

She almost immediately wanted to take it back, as if letting that out had cursed it to come true. But she wanted to see how he reacted. She wanted to know if he was still of that mindset, or even if he was still trying to decide. It was better than sitting around not knowing.

He didn't answer right away, although he visibly hesitated in unfastening Epona's saddle. He didn't look to her either. Malon bit her lip anxiously and waited.

Exhaling after a while, Link started to move again, finishing with the rest of the saddle.

"Actually…I…I've been wondering something…this past week."

The rancher girl looked up a bit at that, not yet sure if it was a good sign or a bad one.

"…Yeah?"

The young man looked to her at last. While he was hesitant, at least his eyes didn't show the same depression as before. "I was wondering…if…well…if I'm…" He paused and swallowed. "Let me start again. If I… I mean, you…" He exhaled, closed his eyes, and then finally spat it out.

"You said I'm good with the cuccos, right?"

Out of all the things that could have come out of Link's mouth, that was the least expected. Malon actually blinked twice. However, Link kept looking at her, his face tinting a bit red now at his embarrassment, but nevertheless holding to the question. After a moment, Malon smirked and giggled a bit.

"Yes, I'd say you're pretty good with them. Nice big eggs and everything." She giggled.

The young man flushed a bit redder at that, but kept going. "So…that means I'm kind of handy to have around the ranch…right? I mean…does it?"

Malon's amusement went away. Her eyes widened a bit. _Is…is he…he really…?_

"…Yeah. Yeah, you are. You're learning quick." She answered, her own voice starting to slip a bit.

"So…I was kind of wondering. If…well…if I decided to stay in Hyrule, I've got no place to stay or any job. So…could I stay here and…well…if the farm does well enough…work as a hand for some rupees?"

The rancher girl's mouth nearly dropped. Was she really hearing this?

"I don't want to keep you out of your room any longer, of course." Link shot out immediately. "I can sleep somewhere else. I could sleep in the stable if I need to. I can stretch out a hammock or a pile of straw. I mean…I'd understand if there wasn't enough money. I'd gladly-"

"No, no! It's not money!" Malon quickly cut off. The truth was she wasn't sure if they could keep another mouth to feed full time even if he was working, but she didn't care. She'd gladly take a job in town as well if she needed to. So long as she was hearing this. "Of course you could! I mean…um…I'm sure dad, er, Talon wouldn't mind! We can always use more help! I mean…you'd have to ask him, but I'm sure he'd say yes! And you can stay in my room as long as you want!" She immediately blushed herself on saying that. "Er…um…that is…until we get you a better place to sleep! Build you a new room…ugh, I mean… _find_ you a new room! But you can stay in my room until then! I mean, obviously not with me, but…ugh…er…yes! Yes, yes, yes! Please! I mean…if you want to!"

At that point, Malon slammed her mouth shut, beginning to feel like a blithering idiot and starting to wonder if she had been too frantic and scared him off. However, much to her pleasant surprise, he only smiled back at the whole thing. Hearing he could stay seemed to make him smile a bit wider; not to mention made the rancher girl feel warmer than ever.

Luckily, Link took it all in stride. He seemed to even be happy about it. "Well…alright then. I'm glad."

"Yeah, me too."

"Great."

"Great!"

The two were left staring at each other silently a moment, as if neither really knew what to do next. After a time, Link scratched the bottom of his chin.

"So…want to get off Shanna?"

"Huh?" Malon answered, looking around herself, before much to her embarrassment she realized she had forgotten to dismount. She let out an audible groan at her own lack of attention, then quickly steadied herself and got ready to get off.

Yet as soon as she looked up, she was stunned to see Link was already at her side. He was tentatively holding his hands out.

"Need a hand?"

Normally Malon would show up whatever boy tried to offer her such a gesture by jumping right out of the saddle to the ground and giving him a smirk. She wasn't a dainty lady that needed big strong men to help her on and off horses, after all. Yet on Link offering, she forgot all about that. She once again found herself frozen and tongue-tied at the offer. She swallowed a bit afterward, then managed a nervous smile.

"S-S-Sure."

Even then, she had to take a moment to compose herself, before reaching out and taking his hands. Although she had touched him numerous times before, this one made her more tense than any of the prior ones. She actually felt a tremble down her spine for a moment. However, she swallowed it back, and soon pushed up out of the stirrup on the opposite side and swung over, using Link to brace herself as she went down.

"Um…Link?" She asked the moment she was standing on the stable ground.

He was still holding onto her hands at that point. He seemed to forget to let go, but Malon, in turn grasped a little more forcefully as she looked up at him.

"I…I know this might sound a little odd, but…but…" She swallowed slightly.

Link was still looking at her, not seeming to realize she was lightly gripping him. As a result, she held through it before smiling a bit more.

"But…I really thought about you a lot after you left seven years ago. I wondered where you had gone, what you were up to, and how you were. I was worried about Epona too, but…I really thought about you too. And I was only thinking more when you came back." Swallowing again, she continued. "What I'm trying to say is…I'm glad you're alright now. And I'm glad you're here. I…I'm really happy to be seeing you again."

The young man didn't answer. He met her gaze, however. And as Malon looked into it, she saw something odd…

For a few moments, it was more hopeful. It was a light she hadn't seen in that gaze before. Something younger and more innocent. A spark she hadn't witnessed out of the dark and brooding young man since he arrived. There was a moment where his face seemed to glow a bit more and grow warmer. A sense that what she was telling him resonated with him. For a heartbeat, Malon thought he was responding to her, reciprocating her feelings. And for that one heartbeat, she had never felt so light in her life…

Then, like a candle being snuffed out, it was gone. His face turned dark again. Not only dark, but pale. Even paler than it had looked four weeks ago when she had spoken about Shanna. Where before his look had been grim or hopeless, this was ever so much worse. She was sure she saw a deathly fear come over him. It was as if on seeing her he was suddenly seeing his own demise. Even his hands seemed to turn cold and rigid as she held on to them. For a moment, she even saw him tremble.

He said not a word. Just suddenly turned, ripping his hands out from her grasp, and quickly walking away. Malon's own warm face fell in an instant, turning to stunned surprise…and perhaps even a slight touch of hurt. But Link didn't stop. He only quickened his pace as he marched right back out of the barn, almost as if something was hounding his steps.

Malon continued to stand there, her hands still semi-outstretched from where she had been holding on to him. She looked to the empty doorway where he had been a moment ago, still replaying him walking away in her mind.

It was about half a minute before she noticed the tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

Now it was Malon's turn to look like a dead woman walking.

The world was unusually still with the coming storm. The birds had quieted down, the cuccos were staying in their roosts, and the horses were stamping their hooves uncomfortably. The proverbial "calm before the storm" wasn't just an expression. Before the worst of them, everything in nature knew it was going to hit. The only sounds were the sharp gales of wind. As the afternoon wore on, slowly the beginnings of clouds came over the horizon. Thick and low hanging. Yet even in times like this where the world was askew, Malon normally derived great joy from the ranch. Letting the horses run, brushing their coats, bringing them hay, milking the cows, tending to the cucco chicks, ladling out the fresh cream, and, if all of that failed, singing and making her own joy. Everything was always so simple and light here. But today the stillness reflected her mood.

Malon might as well have been an automation as she dully went about her chores. She didn't smile once. She could barely manage even a kind word to the animals. Today was a day even Mr. Ingo would have found no fault in her. She looked for Link as the day went on, but he didn't talk to her again. He went straight to Talon or Mr. Ingo for work, and purposely stayed as far as he could from Malon. Whenever she spotted him, she saw he was struggling not to look at her. And when it would become clear he knew he was being watched, he would drop what he was doing and leave.

And it was at that time Malon would feel the hot tears again.

She angrily shouted at herself mentally after a while. This was all her fault. She should have kept the feelings to herself. She should have been content with what she had shared with him that day. But she couldn't help it. She had felt so happy. She thought he was opening up. Before she knew what she was doing she had said it. And now she'd give anything to take it back.

What if he never spoke to her again? Or worse…and this made the tears flow even harder…he decided to leave?

Eventually, as the wind picked up and the sky began to be covered with clouds, ones that were quickly turning progressively grayer, Malon couldn't stand being outside any more either. She went in and confined herself to tending the butter and cream. But even then it didn't help much. She was only out of view of him. He was more lodged in her mind than he had ever been. She almost wanted to swear. She had never been this "odd" over a boy before. And she had a low opinion of other rural girls who were. Yet why was she so upset now? Why did it feel like a knife had half-sliced into her heart?

She was so irate that she didn't even notice she was erratically churning the butter, causing some of it to spill out of the top. But she didn't care. She just kept churning harder and harder. Yet no matter how she did, or how much she said no young man would get to her, she felt herself starting to sniffle again.

"'Lo Malon."

The rancher girl snapped her head up from her work, almost violently. As a result, when she spotted Talon, he nearly jumped and recoiled. However, she quickly exhaled and calmed afterward, releasing the butter churn and leaning back.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt you."

The young woman blinked, looking over what she was doing. A good amount of half-churned butter was now splattered on the floor, some of it on her shoes. Not only that, but she soon grew aware that her hands were throbbing and red. She blinked a few times, realizing what she had to be doing, before she sighed and rubbed at her eyes.

"No…no, it's alright dad…" She answered quietly, clearing the half-dry tears. She supposed she should have been happy that was all Talon had said to her. Anyone else would have seen she was out-of-control and making a huge mess, to say nothing of wasting butter. But her father had that way of dealing with her.

"You got a lot on your mind, looks like." He said after a moment, leaning a bit in the doorway. He paused a bit, looking a bit uncertain, and moistening his lips. "…Care to say what's eatin' you?"

As Malon went to use the end of her shawl to wipe the rest, she froze. She looked up to her father a bit curiously. She couldn't recall the last time Talon had asked what was wrong with her…although, in all fairness, she hadn't wanted to talk to him about a problem since the first time she had been kicked by a horse when she was five.

After a moment, though, she wiped the rest. "…It's nothing, dad."

Talon didn't budge. "I ain't seen you cry since you were four years old, Malon."

The girl stiffened at that. She knew that time he was talking about. When her mother was being put in the ground not 50 meters away.

"Snake bites, guay pecks, even falling off the backs of some of the ponies…you never shed a tear. Even when you looked like you were 'bout to you always sucked it up. But you're cryin' now. That ain't 'nothing'."

Malon didn't answer. She didn't even look up to him. However, she didn't move either.

He straightened up off of the door frame. He slowly exhaled. "…It's that young fella, ain't it? Link?"

Again, Malon didn't say anything. But this time it was impossible to hide her change. Her hands tightened on her dress and her head turned to one side.

"You got a crush on him, don't you?"

The rancher girl immediately shot her head up in alarm. "Wh-what? No…no, dad! I…"

Her father merely smiled wryly and nodded. "It's true. I know it."

"Dad…dad, no…I…I don't…" The young woman trailed off even as she tried to defend it. She realized even as she spoke she wasn't believing her own words. On the contrary, now it was all falling into place. Now all of the mystery was gone. Now she knew why she had kept thinking about him and thought about him more as she got older and came into that time of her life. Now she knew why she liked being around him even if they weren't doing anything; either work or play related. Now she knew why she would let herself be treated so lady-like around him, so long as it meant getting to be close by or feeling his touch.

The realization was so obvious she was stunned she needed Talon to reveal it, but it was true.

"I knew it the moment you brought him in, lookin' like a bag o' bones." Talon went on. "Of course I knew it. That's the same look I gave your mother the second I first laid eyes on her."

Malon looked to him more intently at that. The big man exhaled and turned his own head down as he walked in and made for the nearest crate to sit on.

"I ain't a romantic, Malon. You know that better'n anyone. And I don't know if I buy into all of that mushy fairy-tale stuff about love-at-first-sight… But that's how it worked for me. The moment I saw her, before I even knew her name, I knew I'd love her forever. I didn't say anything then, though. I wouldn't even say hi to her. And when I did, after a few months, I wouldn't even say my name. I always made excuses whenever I had a shot. I'd either have to go milk the cows or tend the horses or water the garden…always something. Anything to keep from talking to her."

"Why not?" The young woman found herself asking.

He shrugged. "Afraid she wouldn't want to talk to me. Afraid she'd see that I loved her already and that she'd run away. Not realizin' that her running away and keeping her at arm's length was pretty much the same thing…" He sighed. "It took near a year before your late uncle saw me and noticed what I was up to. How I kept looking at her but I never said nothin'. He took me aside one night and he told it to me straight. He said I could either wait 'til some other young man with more guts than I had would steal my chance and I spend the rest of my life regretting it, or I could go after her now. Yet even then I wouldn't go."

He inhaled and looked up again to her.

"So…one day I got up to do my chores, same as always. But my brother was up first. I went out to feed the horses…they were already fed. I went out to milk the cows…they were already milked. I went to gather the eggs…they were all in. Anything and everything I could find to do around the house, your uncle had already done. I couldn't even go to ma and pa because my brother went there first and did it all. Durn near ran himself ragged and he was sweatin' like a hog, but he did it all. I really tried to find something to do, but he wouldn't let me. He went up to me and said that now I didn't have any excuses. I either go up and court that young lady or he'd work so hard that he'd make me a bum livin' off the ranch for nothin' to do and I'd be kicked right out. So…" He smirked a bit. "…I think you can guess the rest. A year later to that day we got hitched."

Malon had never heard that story before. Talon had told her many times about how her mother used to be, but she have never heard how they had met. Yet as she listened to this story and gained its meaning, she realized something else. She remembered how when she had first started to care for Link, Talon had jumped right in on the ranch. For the first time in years he was working his share, and even growing to do more than his. Taking up her own work…

For the second time in the past ten minutes, a realization came over Malon.

Her face must have shown it, because Talon's own smile faded as he looked to her more seriously than he ever had in his life.

"Malon…I know I haven't been much good as a father. And you don't need to correct me on that. I haven't. I took you for granted. I saw how good you were at runnin' the ranch when you were young. How you were just every bit as hard a worker and as smart as your mom. I can say I was depressed…heartbroken…that I lost the will to go on…but that ain't no excuse. You were a little girl. You deserved to be runnin' 'round with friends and playin' games, not running the stable while I was off takin' naps all day. That wasn't fair. And I can't make that up anymore."

"Dad, it-"

"No, no…don't you sit there and tell me 'it's alright', 'cause it ain't. When your mom passed on, I should have tried to step up for the both of us. But I didn't. I dropped the reins. Made you have to lose two parents instead of one. Now, _that's_ what's been on _my_ mind for a while now. As I'm gettin' older I'm starting to think about if I want to lose any chance of ever having anything with my only daughter so I can steal in some more naps."

Malon was quiet at that, swallowing slightly. Talon looked to her more intently.

"I wanted to do something to let you know I love you, Malon. I just assumed that was there and that you were happy all these years. But when I saw there was something there that would really make you happy, I knew I had to do what I could. And it wasn't much, believe you me. Doesn't make up for any of the past decade. But I want you to know right now that you deserve to be happy. You deserve to be able to love someone like how I loved your mother. So don't go sitting there thinking you were bad in what you said."

The rancher girl looked up a bit at that.

Talon put up his hands. "Now, don't give me that look, girl. You know you've been the loudest young lady in Hyrule for years. I hear things fine when I'm awake."

She held at that, although she didn't change.

"I wanted to tell you that…and I also wanted to tell you not to give up on that young fella. Like I said, I ain't no romantic, but I like to think I know something about young people. And I know somethin' about that kid."

Malon blinked. "You…you do?"

"Seven years back, when he was playin' that old cucco hustling game I was playing, I thought I'd tease him a bit. After he was done, I asked him if he'd like to marry you."

Although he had to only be a child at the time, and it was just joking, Malon felt herself blush that he had been asked that question.

Immediately, Talon held out a finger and pointed it at her.

"And that's _just_ the look he had on his face when I reminded him of it two weeks back. The same look he had seven years back."

The young woman's jaw dropped on hearing that. "Wha…really?"

"Malon…I don't know what happened to that boy. I don't know what hurt him. I don't know what he's nursing. But I can tell you this: don't give up on him. Because even if he looks it, he hasn't given up on you. Whatever's wrong with him…you might be the one who can get him over it. I've wanted you to act a bit more 'lady-like' for years."

He inhaled and fixed his gaze more steady.

"Right now, I'm saying go after that boy like he was the orneriest mustang you ever met and don't stop until you've got him tied."

The rancher girl was speechless. She had never heard her father talk to her like this before. Oh, he had treated her as responsible and even the one who ran things on the farm for years. But this time…this was the first time he was talking to her neither as if she was still his little girl nor if she was a hard-working adult, but as a mature young woman. She was stunned by it, but at the same time slowly felt a sense of empowerment in her. Even release or strengthening. She suddenly felt as if she had indeed grown up a bit more than she had a moment ago. Most of all, she felt something she had failed to pick up, or even knew she wanted, in all of Talon's years of slacking and laziness.

His approval.

She smiled at last. Almost ignoring the butter on her shoes, she began to rise up from her spot. She nearly took off for the door, a move Talon anticipated by stepping to one side. Yet before she could, she looked back to him.

"Dad…thank you."

The big man looked likewise stunned. While he certainly hadn't done much to earn it regardless, that was the first time Malon had thanked him for anything since her mother died. For a moment, it looked as if he would tear up as well, before he quickly looked away and waved his hand.

"Ah…just hurry up and be off. Don't worry 'bout me. I'll be cleanin' up this butter 'til midnight at this rate."

* * *

"Link! Link!"

This had been at least the thirtieth time that Malon had called for the young man and received no answer. However, she continued to run around the ranch and shout regardless. After all, it was getting quite hard to hear at this point. The sun was gone; blotted out by the thick curtain of incoming clouds that now covered one end of heaven to the next. They were growing thicker and darker with time as well, beginning to churn over each other like fish fighting over a narrow set of rapids. The wind was picking up more, now beginning to take up loose items around the ranch. On top of all of that, the distant sound of thunder began to rumble. A moment ago, Malon had seen her first thunderbolt. Coupled with the fact it was getting late, and it wouldn't be long before the summer rains brought an early night on all of Hyrule. It might be the worst one in many years.

Yet none of that mattered to Malon. After reclaiming her shawl, she searched high and low for him. She checked the cucco coop, the corral, the storerooms, every corner of the house, and even that shed on the far side of the ranch. The one place she evaded was the stable as that was where she had saw him last, and he had run out of it. She assumed that would be the least likely place he would return. Yet after running around for about fifteen minutes, she realized it was the only place left for him.

As she ran back to the barn, the wind pulled so sharply it nearly tore her shawl from her shoulders and lifted her work dress over her head. Tough and down-to-earth as she was, normally this would have made her cringe in embarrassment. But she didn't care this time even as the thunder peeled even closer. She didn't even notice that Mr. Ingo had already finished the last of the outdoor chores and hurried everything inside. If she had more presence of mind, she would have realized that even if they couldn't see it coming on the horizon, the clouds up above were ready to burst. Once she reached the stable, they had turned so gray that they were nearly black.

But she didn't mind as she yanked open the door and stepped inside.

"Link! Lin…"

The moment her eyes looked through the doors, she trailed off at where they had landed.

The rows of horse stalls. One was missing.

Epona.

The enthusiasm she had until a moment ago quickly faded. Malon's smile eroded; swiftly replaced by fear and anxiety. In spite of what Talon had said about him, her worst fear came to mind. She felt her heart begin to beat faster and not just from the running she had done as she quickly broke into the stable, running toward the empty stall. In spite of the fact she could clearly tell Epona wasn't in it, a fool's hope arose in her heart that she was wrong. Maybe she was in a corner. Maybe Link was out walking her somewhere or getting her ready off to one side.

She saw none of that. The rest of the stable was empty save for the animals. The cows had gone quiet and were huddled with their calves. The horses themselves were beginning to prance anxiously with the coming thunderclaps. Even they realized how bad this storm would be. No Epona, however. And no Link. All she noticed as she came nearer was that a touch of paper they had used for crate labels was folded and on the floor of the stall.

On seeing it, and realizing it hadn't just drifted there, Malon quickly ran forward the rest of the way, picked her way through the bars, and snatched the paper off the ground. She quickly unfolded it.

She had never seen Link's handwriting before, but she knew it was neither hers, Talon's, nor Mr. Ingo's. That left only him.

 _I'm sorry_

If this note had been meant as consolation, it was even worse than when he left seven years ago. At least then he had been a mysterious fairy boy who could fade off in the horizon. Now he had actually left something behind that was cryptic and meaningless.

Malon felt herself begin to tremble and shake as she crumpled the note up in one hand and looked around. Had her father been wrong? Had she really pushed him away by saying that? Was he fleeing her?

She thought that might be the case for just a moment. Then she remembered how he had reacted at first. How his eyes had lit up. How there was a second where the two of them resonated. Had she imagined it? No…no, she hadn't. That had been genuine. It might have only lasted a second, but for an instant it had been there. He had looked happy that she was saying that.

But if that was true, then why this? Why did he look so deathly afraid? Why was he running now? And what did he mean by this note? Sorry? Sorry for what? Sorry for leaving so soon without a word? Or did he realize he was hurting her? Did that mean he cared about her? But if he did, why was he leaving? And where would he go? What if she never saw him again? What if he had left for good and all?

Malon didn't know, but she remembered what Talon had said. At the thought of that, her jaw tightened and the hand that had crumpled the note became a fist as her trembling stopped.

 _Not this time. I'm not letting him walk away like last time._

The fact was even if her feelings had nothing to do with it, she needed to get him. She heard everything he said. How he felt he had no purpose left. How he felt he'd find no place to rest. He could end up going back to wandering; roaming the world without a friend or confidant or a place to call his own. He could end up just as he was when he got here: a shell of a man literally trying to waste away into nothing. He didn't deserve that. And she wouldn't let that be his fate if nothing else. For that reason too she _had_ to find him.

He couldn't have gotten far. She realized that he had an hour head start on her at best. Epona was fast, but she was also out of practice. She had been lazing about the ranch eating her fill of hay and oats for some time. There was a chance she could still chase them down, but only if she knew where they were going. That could be anywhere. He could be nearly to the Gerudo Desert at this point, or back in the Lost Woods, or headed straight for…

 _Kakariko Village._

Her own eyes enlarged at the realization.

 _He's headed for Kakariko Village. He said he felt he had to go there but he was afraid of what he'd find. But he looked so pale when he looked away from me…like he was scared. He has to be headed there. It's the only place he has left to go._

Even if her reasoning was wrong, it was the best odds Malon had. With that in mind, she looked to the stalls. She needed a horse and fast.

Unfortunately, the thunder clapped just at that moment, not only serving to remind Malon of the storm that was coming and just how violent it was, but also serving to show that horses that were reliable would be hard to find now. This was a new breed of storm all together. The thunder sounded almost as if the earth had cracked and dropped a piece of it right on the roof of the stable. Some of the horses brayed. Others kicked up and actually battered their hooves against the stall. Still others were sweating. She realized riding them out in a storm this violent might get her thrown off or driven all the way up Zora River.

Out of all the horses in the stalls, she quickly realized only one seemed to be standing still and weathering the chaos. One who was used to far worse than nature thundering miles above: Shanna.

Malon hesitated a moment. She needed speed, and Shanna hadn't done more than a trot and was still more than on the lean side. Even if she could somehow get a full gallop out of her, she might hurt the horse on this run. Even do serious damage. However, a quick glance at the other horses realized she had no choice. Time was running out fast.

Exhaling, she quickly ran to the racks for saddles and grabbed one. Link might have been fine riding bareback, but she knew Shanna likely couldn't take it. As soon as she brought it over, she went straight for her stall and to her side.

As if she had an idea that something was wrong, Shanna seemed to look up to her as she began to strap the saddle on. Almost as if she was asking her what the problem was. As Malon worked, she found herself answering that look. She _did_ believe the mare was smart enough to realize what she was saying or the intent behind it.

"Shanna…Link's gone. If we don't catch him, he's never coming back. I know you're not a war horse or a wild one anymore, and I know you're not in the best shape, but I need you to run like you're charging into battle tonight. Or neither of us will ever see Link or Epona again."

The saddle was on and she quickly went about tightening it.

"You know Link, Shanna. He knew what you had been through when I didn't. He knew you wanted to feel like you did back in battle. That you weren't done yet. Well…you're not done yet, Shanna. We both need you more than ever before. You're the only one who can help us, girl."

She looked straight at the horse.

"Can you do it?"

Of course she didn't answer anything. And yet, there was something undeniable that came over the mare at that moment. Until now, Malon was used to her always hanging her head low. Having a more reserved and lazy look about her, as if she was just going through the motions. Even when Link got her to eat again she almost seemed to be forcing herself to do it. Yet at that moment, in the dimming light of the stable windows, her eyes seemed to light up. Her head held high and her ears went erect. She let out a snort that one could swear was not from some old nag passing her last few years in a ranch but was that of a charger armored and ready to trample all that stood in her way. Her mostly-skeletal leg stomped powerfully and her jaw swished, as if there was an imaginary bit there already for her to chomp at and she was impatient to be mounted and ridden out.

The rancher girl smiled at that and quickly went back to work.

* * *

Malon wasn't sure if she felt excitement or terror from what came when she burst out of the stable and charged right out the gates of the ranch. The world seemed like it had changed. The sky had blackened so much she felt she almost needed a light, but by that time she was half a mile away from the ranch and she didn't risk turning. The rain burst shortly thereafter, coming down in thick, icy, torrential sheets that stung her face and slapped her so viciously it seemed to try and tear her from the saddle all together. They battered the ground into a muddy soup as lightning vented its full fury overhead, soon becoming the only light at all in the blackened skies. It flashed violently again and again, highlighting the stormy clouds overhead that churned and mixed as if they were nothing more than pools of water being mixed about by the gods themselves. The air grew so cold that breath misted from both Malon's mouth as well as Shanna's, in spite of being the middle of summer. It was as if the world itself was coming to an end. And there, in the middle of Hyrule Field, without a higher place for miles, the lightning flashed again and again; each bolt threatening to destroy horse and rider.

The rancher girl herself had paused only to throw a riding cape over herself before taking off. Now it was soaked and the wind threatened to rip it clean off of her. It had already yanked her hood free and thrown her red hair about wherever it willed. She was shivering from the rain and feeling it sting wherever her skin was exposed or her clothing was thin. On foot, she never would have made it long through this horrendous gale. The wind seemed to almost be howling from Kakariko Village's direction itself, in direct opposition to her path.

Yet Shanna seemed to be a beast of the underworld herself that night. In spite of how poor she looked, her snorting was heavy and rapid, her eyes flashing like dull coals, and she charged through that field as if her old master himself was on her back spurring her on. As time passed and the storm grew worse, she only ran harder; transcending the limits of mortal possibility. Had Malon not thought so hard of getting through the storm, she would have been terrified. There was no wild or mad horse in all the world that ran as swiftly as Shanna did. To be on her back was as if being borne along the hooves of an otherworldly dullahan.

However, all of her thoughts were what was on ahead, and her care only on how swiftly Shanna could get her there.

It seemed almost hours later when Shanna charged up the steps of the pass into Kakariko Village. It had to have only been forty minutes at the most, but by now the world had changed greatly. The rain had finally slackened but was still coming down heavy and steady, and all around her had turned gray, sagging, and gloomy. The bright and beautiful summer had vanished, swallowed by a ghastly, gothic, and dank premature night.

Wandering into the village did little better. The shutters were closed to all of the houses, so even those that had lights on within were not visible. As a result, all that was left was darkened buildings standing still and stark as if they were ruins or abandoned. Not a soul was out wandering in this weather. No sign of life, be it horse or rider. It seemed as if the place was indeed a ghost town as a result. Perhaps worse than that…

Shanna slowed on arrival, for they were at their destination. Malon finally pulled on the reins herself, slowing her further for a moment. She looked about, realizing they had made it but there was no sign of Link or Epona, and no one to ask where they were.

That was only a moment, though. The rain had started before Link and Epona had arrived, it seemed. There were tracks in the mud of a single horse, headed straight to the back of the village. They were so fresh they had to have been made not long ago, and no one else was out to make them.

With a kick to the flank, Shanna took off once again, this time with Malon leading her directly along the path of the tracks.

Shanna picked up the pace rapidly again, although not running quite as hard as she had before. In no time at all, Malon was weaving her way through the dark and looming buildings. In this night with the rain falling so dark and heavily, the rancher girl could scarcely believe she was in Kakariko Village at all. She had to have delivered milk to it hundreds of times, rain or shine, and yet now riding through it she felt as if something was different. As she made her way through, the wind slowly stilled. It didn't stop completely, but the gales died down. It might have been the storm lessening, or perhaps it was her going into the valley itself that blocked the wind. In either event, it wasn't a welcome relief. On the contrary, even the wind dying seemed unnatural.

And she could swore it grew colder when that happened.

As the tracks led her to the rear of the town, she heard a monstrous creaking and groaning. When lightning flashed, she could see the source: the giant mill in town. By now, things were so quiet and dark that she actually shrank back a bit from its shadow. For a moment, her mind didn't see the mill at all but rather some great twisted thing of shadow leering over her. Yet even when she realized it was the mill and the light dimmed, shrouding her in darkness again, it did little to alleviate her fear. Even the sound of the groaning it made seemed almost alive. Not being able to see it, a dark thought entered her mind. She imagine an huge and evil thing lurking in the darkness making sounds like it was the mill, all the while slowly drawing closer. Horrifying thoughts like this only continued as she went past it and into the rock pass. She was shuddering now, and not from cold.

 _There's something wrong here._ She slowly realized as she trembled. _I'm scared. And I haven't been scared of thunderstorms since I was little. But…this doesn't feel like the village. It's like something bad is here instead. Like something's changed. It feels like…like…_

She swallowed at the thought.

 _There's something evil waiting for me at the end of it._

She soon realized something that did nothing to alleviate that fear, however irrational. The tracks she were following led straight back to the graveyard.

The graveyard of Kakariko. Considered sacred by the Shiekah. So sacred that even the royal family and the heroes of Hyrule would not bury their dead in Castle Town. Rather, they brought them here. Some said it was a place of safety and peace. A sanctuary. But many others, Malon included, never liked that place. Even in the brightest, clearest day, it always seemed like the light was dimmer there. The wind echoed louder. The ravens cawed more hauntingly. And as Shanna bore her onward, still on her rapid pace, she looked forward to the path and saw only darkness. Even the light from the gravedigger's hut couldn't be seen.

She almost felt she could hear the wind breathing icy gasps…

It was a good thing the mare bore her, even if she began to slow at last, because in spite of Malon's resolve to find Link, she was beginning to dread where she was and found a growing impulse in her heart to turn back. She would not, but for the life of her she didn't know if her legs would have been able to move forward without difficulty. The air grew more unnatural as she ventured on. She swore the sounds about her grew so hollow she could actually hear each and every raindrop falling down about her. The dark woods about the village loomed, filled with nothing but black abyss among them, and rising tall and twisted above her. Much like the mill, she had the sense of being surrounded by very dark and very nightmarish beings.

Finally, the fences and first rows of headstones became visible. In spite of her resolve, Malon found herself praying that Link and Epona would be just up ahead. But they were not. The tracks turned to one side and then half-vanished among the cobblestones leading to the back, where the great royal vaults lay under the cold, rotten earth. However, by now Shanna was nearly slowing to a halt. Malon didn't notice at first, too fixated on the dark and foreboding place, but then she realized it. The mare was still breathing rather loudly, and she could feel her rapid heartbeat underneath her hide. At last, she looked away from her surroundings and down to the horse, her mind realizing that Shanna had to have run harder than she had in years to get her there. Even if the horse wasn't scared of this place, she had to have been at her limit. A healthy horse couldn't have run that fast. For her to do this…

In spite of her fear, concern for the animal caused Malon to draw her to a halt at the fence. The horse readily complied, continuing to breathe hard. Her legs began to quiver and buckle beneath her soon after. Yet even then, Malon didn't readily get off. She was surrounded by headstones now. Through the eerie rain, she thought she could almost hear the sound of a graveyard spirit laughing at her somewhere. Her hands gripped the reins and she gave another shudder. Yet she knew Shanna couldn't bear her, and finally she got the resolve to dismount.

Once she was off, the rancher girl pulled in close to Shanna and moved to tie her to the fencepost. She kept her eyes on her task, not looking around. They were playing tricks on her at this point. She feared gazing about too much would give her the fancy of something evil lingering among the stones and coming for her. In spite of the bravery and boldness of the girl, a worm of hesitation entered her heart; feeding off of her fear. It told her to turn around and go home. Link couldn't be here. He had to have gone. And even if he hadn't, she'd never find him here. If she didn't leave soon, she'd be stuck in the mud on the way home, or run afoul a Stalchild or Wolfos. It was dangerous out here and she wasn't a warrior. Was he really worth all this?

Yet before the fear could gain any more strength, she heard a sharp exhale from the mare at her side before she collapsed completely.

Again forgetting her fear, Malon turned to Shanna in shock. She hadn't merely had her legs give out. She had fallen completely to the ground. Worse than that, she wasn't trying to spring back up or right herself. Quickly, the young woman bowed down to her side and reached for her bridle.

"Shanna! Shan…"

She trailed off. There was no need to call anymore. On reaching out for the side of her head and feeling where blood had been coursing with each rapid heartbeat a moment ago, there was now nothing.

She was dead.

Shock painted over Malon's expression, before it began to tighten in grief. She realized that run was something out of legends. It would have been too much for the strongest horses in the world. As much as Shanna's health had improved, she hadn't been in good enough shape to even manage a gallop. That run was totally beyond her. There was no way she could have made it unless it would have been the last run she ever did. Malon's lip quivered. Her eyes began to sting as she looked over the still mare. It was pointless to call for her to rise. She was too familiar with horses to not know when it was over.

 _It was just like Link said. She wanted to know she wasn't useless. She wanted to not be done. All she ever wanted was the chance to be a war horse again. To be brave…gallant… She just wanted one last ride._

 _This_ was _her last ride. She knew Link was leaving. She knew I had to catch him. She knew she had to run faster than Epona to catch up to him. She knew she was the only horse brave enough to make the ride through the storm. And she did. She only ran harder the more it rained and blew. Never fearing… Never backing down…_

 _This was her last charge. This was her last chance to be heroic._

Malon looked up again at that. Only darkness and emptiness loomed in front of her. But she squared her jaw and stared right back at it, almost willing her heart to be still inside her.

 _She gave her life for Link…and for me. I can't let it go to waste because I'm scared of ghosts. I can't stop here or she'll have died for nothing._

Taking a deep breath, she rose from where she was and began to walk down the cobblestone path. She hated leaving Shanna there without even a means to cover her, but she knew that's what the mare would have wanted. She had to get to Link. She had a feeling she needed to more than ever now.

The graveyard didn't get any more hospitable due to her bravery. On the contrary, it grew far worse. But she refused to break. In spite of her heart pounding and sweat forming under her riding cape, she kept her eyes forward and stared right back into the darkness. She swore she could hear the laughter more clearly as she neared, and now she could hear other sounds among them. Some were like groans. Others were like high pitched screeches. And still others were nothing she had never heard before. There was a chance she was imagining it all, but as she drew nearer and swore she kept hearing them, she began to doubt that was the case. Still, she refused to stop. She kept walking onward, farther and farther into the graveyard. She passed the headstones for the commoners, then began to pick her way through the ones for the nobles.

As she reached the end of this, however, she finally heard a welcome sound. A loud whinny of another horse; one that she recognized was Epona. The way it sounded, it was almost as if the mare had heard her and was calling out. Immediately, Malon looked up and shouted back.

"Epona!"

The horse let an even louder note out. Malon couldn't see too far in front of her, but she heard the sound and placed it. Immediately, she left the path and ran out straight for the noise. It wasn't long before the horse neighed again, and again shortly after that. Each time it was closer. She was guiding Malon on.

"I'm coming, Epona! I'm coming!"

As she ran on, again the gloom about her seemed to diminish. Not completely, and not enough to lessen the dark feeing about her. But enough to see in front of her better. The rain slackened further, continuing to come down but letting her see farther. And at long last, she had something before her to see.

The largest headstone of all, the marker for the royal family's own crypt, emblazoned with the great triangles of the royal crest, loomed just ahead. Normally the stone looked almost a regal blue, but tonight it was as gray, cold, and unwelcoming as the rest of the graveyard. Malon could make out little else than the symbol at first, and didn't care either. Her eyes were on the beast tied to the fence around this area just ahead: Epona. The horse saw her as she emerged from the rain, was now pulling more furiously at her reins than ever. Her front hooves clacked against the post in a vague attempt to knock herself loose as she pranced about. From the prints in the mud around her, it was clear she had been at this for a while. It seemed she had been trying to pull herself free ever since she was tied. Now she whinnied and neighed louder than ever.

"Easy, girl! Easy!" Malon shouted as she drew nearer, trying to get the mare to calm down long enough to not risk hitting her with her hooves as she came. Luckily, Epona seemed to understand. She went back to the ground although she continued to neigh impatiently. In moments, Malon was at her side and taking her bridle, quickly extending her hand to calm her. She felt the power in each snort she made. It was hot and wet, indicating she had been breathing hard for some time. And when she touched her, she felt a tremble on her. The horse was scared.

Soon Malon had a reason to be scared as well, for she realized Epona was the only one there. Link was gone. She glanced about her, but the path here was overgrown where the stone hadn't worn out. As a result, no footsteps were left anywhere. The trail had gone cold when Link had left her tied.

Her face tensed with concern as she looked back to the mare.

"Where's Link, Epona? Where did he go?"

Naturally, the horse couldn't answer. She only snorted again as Malon looked at her.

Moistening her lips, Malon turned her head to her surroundings and cried out. "Link! Link, where are you? Link! Link-"

Again, Malon found herself cut off by a shocking sight. As she looked about crying out, her eyes fell on the ground before the large headstone. She didn't see any footsteps, and so she couldn't be sure he had gone that way.

But there was a great hole looming in front of that headstone at the moment. It was as if the ground beneath it had sunken in and left a black tunnel.

That, or as if the dead themselves had pulled the earth down, leaving a passage into their dank, rotten abode.

The moment Malon rested her eyes on this hole, a violent chill gripped her. It felt as if an icy hand had reached out and clutched her heart. In spite of the rain, she swore she could hear a hollow, resounding echo coming from that hole. As if the unnatural wind was streaming from it in part. She could only stare at the space for a few moments. It looked to her as if it was a passage into not only an open grave but whatever foul place all the graves went to.

"You shouldn't be here."

Malon went as still as stone. The color drained from her face as she felt ice along her spine. There was no second-guessing or maybe about it this time.

She had _heard_ that.

And the voice was not human.

It seemed to have human-like qualities, to be sure, but it was a far cry from it. It had too much power in it. An otherworldly quality that seemed to resound with the wind, the chill, and even the darkness about her. The voice was long and slow, with a rasp that wasn't at all like what a human thought of as a raspy voice but like something ripping itself off of moldy ground or scraping like nails on stone. Worst of all, although it had come from behind her, Malon felt the sensation of something dark and ominous sweeping all around her like an inky black curtain. It was as if the already gloomy night was being replaced by something darker and gloomier.

She honestly wasn't sure if it was her will or not, but something inside her made her slowly turn to the voice. She didn't like what she saw.

This time, the twisted thing she saw was most certainly real. A skeletal frame looming fifteen feet tall was standing just out of the tree line, so that one could not quite be sure if it was standing among them or distinct. The body was covered in a shadow. "Covered in a shadow" was the best way Malon could think to describe it. It looked something like a full body cape or cloak, and yet it was of a darkness so bleak the rest of the graveyard seemed bright by comparison. Everything was hidden except for the unnaturally tall, twisted, thin shape beneath it. It formed something vaguely humanoid, but most certainly not human. When the wind blew, it didn't disturb the cape at all. And the thing beneath it moved so little one could mistake it for a grotesque statue. Not Malon, however. She knew it had spoken to her.

And now she felt fear greater than any specter or spirit could give her.

She wasn't sure how long she stared, but she feared to speak. Speaking might make the form move. Speaking might get it to suddenly spring out of the cloak and take the form of a million nightmare before it ripped her to pieces.

 _It_ broke the silence next.

"They are hungry tonight. And the scent is so strong, they will feed on all who come near."

The voice was no more bearable than before, but Malon did notice something else about it. It was actually…female. In spite of how unworldly it was, the rancher girl knew somehow it was female.

She swallowed, at last finding her voice. "What…who…are you?"

The hood shifted slightly.

"Who am I?" It echoed.

There was a pause, before a short laugh came from the figure. It was not merry or jovial in the least. It wasn't even mocking or cruel. It was just…dark. That was the only way to describe it: dark. Something a laugh shouldn't have been. In fact, Malon found it such a horrible sound she did not want to say another word to make the thing laugh ever again.

"Why…I thought everyone in Hyrule knew me. Don't you know who I am? You have my emblem everywhere in this land, don't you? You look at it day in and day out, do you not?"

Malon, in spite of her anxiety, registered puzzlement. "I...I don't understand..."

She gave a start a moment later as the shadow shifted, around where the arm would be. It elevated, and as it did she saw something emerge from within. It almost looked like a long, thin, twisted tree branch at first. Yet she soon realized it was the thing's finger. Abnormally multijointed and dully colored as it reached out and pointed, straight to the headstone.

Swallowing again, Malon risked turning and looking over to the stone again in spite of looking away from the shadow. Maybe it would disappear like another phantom when she turned away. Her gaze fell on the large headstone, and in particular on the one thing she could make out: the emblem of the royal family.

Her mind vaguely clicked on seeing it. She remembered years ago her mother telling her a story; how those three symbols came from the gods and creators of Hyrule. At that moment, in spite of how her mind was half-clouded by fear, she even recalled their names. Din, Goddess of Power; Naryu, Goddess of Wisdom, and Faore, Goddess of Courage. One symbol for each of them. Din was on top, Naryu was on the bottom left, and Faore was on the bottom right. Yet what did she mean by that? Her emblem?

Then the thought registered in her mind. It made her shudder again.

"You...you're one of the goddesses of Hyrule?"

A moment later, her eyes closed and she winced. She had made the figure laugh again, and she laughed much louder and longer this time. She could almost feel her blood curdling in her veins to hear it. Any more and one could have considered it torture.

"One of _them?"_ She answered. "Oh, you must mean one of the three sisters. Heh...no, I am neither Din, Naryu, nor Faero, Malon."

The rancher girl turned her head back to the figure in fright at that. _How does she know my name?_

"Look again. I'll give you a hint. How many triangles do you see?"

She swallowed yet again. She still wanted to help Link, but right now she wanted to be on the other end of Hyrule from this figure, and she began to fear that wouldn't be nearly far enough. Slowly, she turned and looked again. It took her mind a moment to start working, but soon she stared at the emblems again. She didn't get it, however. All that was there were three triangles. Together they made a larger one, yes, but that was all.

 _Wait, no...that's not all. Three triangles can't make a bigger triangle. You need one for each point, but there's still a space in the center. One for a triangle that's upside down..._

Her eyes migrated to the center of the emblem, and realized it. It was something no one ever thought of. Their eyes were always on the golden emblems themselves. Some called it "Triforce"...three. There were three there and that was all. Yet she realized that there was a dark space between them. Most thought of it as a void or empty space, but it didn't change the fact that when the three triangles came together it formed a _fourth_ triangle within the center.

A fourth goddess.

Malon felt meeker and smaller than ever now, more vulnerable than ever before. Very slowly, she managed to turn back.

"Are...you a goddess?"

"What is a goddess? Are the other three goddesses to you? If a goddess is one who tends, maintains, loves, and protects it creations, then they are not. If a goddess is one who guides and instructs to ways of peace and prosperity, then they are not." A single dark chuckle came from the shadow. "If they are ones who create something to bring beauty and goodness into this world, then, I assure you, they...are... _not._ The three you all love and honor so much are nothing more than giants who decided to build an anthill, and then, just to have a spot of fun, said to one another 'hey, watch this' before throwing the means to become a beetle and watched them start tearing each other apart while they placed bets on the winner."

Such things were rather cold-sounding to Malon. She had never heard anyone speak of the goddess of Hyrule like that before. Nothing so mocking and biting...not to them but rather to someone like _her_. Yet the thing wasn't done.

"You may think of me as the 'referee'. The one who sets games up for them to play, and the one who has to clean up what's left behind. Something the three of them mutually hate and yet they _need_ because, oh...all of their order and structure gets so _boring_. They craft such wonderful toys for one another but what good is it when they have no games to play?" Another chuckle. "They think they're my master. That they claimed this land out from me. They don't realize they're as much my tools as the rest of you."

Malon blinked once as she felt another shudder through her. "Tools?"

"Why yes, Malon. Surely you don't think you're here through any conscious will of your parents or any other mortal, do you? Oh no...I assure you that you are nothing more than a plaything. Just like Link. Just like Epona. Just like poor Shanna who just breathed her last; created for just this moment to expire just at this moment. Just as you too were created to be here right here, right now."

The shadow leaned closer.

"Does it make you feel uncomfortable, Malon...knowing that any nobility or bravery you have was preordained? Does it cheapen you to know not one of your decisions was ever really your own? That the powers that be knew everything about Shanna? Including when to strike down her rider and cut her tendons so that she would be here at this exact moment? Is that what a 'goddess' is to you?"

As scared as the rancher girl was of this figure, the talk was becoming far more frightening. And she didn't want to hear any more of it. She tightened her jaw and forced herself to be brave.

"Where is Link?"

"Link is their favorite plaything." The thing went on. "The toy they enjoy playing with until it breaks and is forgotten, then after a few generations they put him back together, dust him off, and play with him again. They've done it before. They're doing it now. And they'll do it again...and again...and again...long after you have returned to the dust. For the rest of the eternity. And there is absolutely _nothing_ you, he, or anyone else will _ever_ be able to do about it. The only problem is, on this particular occasion, the little toy soldier has started to realize the truth. The truth that he is of no more use to the goddesses. They've had their fun with him, and more fun than they've had in a while, but now he serves no more purpose."

Malon didn't like the sound of this much better. "What do you mean no more purpose?"

"You know full well, Malon. He told you everything. And in spite of the fact you likely thought it was false, all of it was true. He is the Hero of Time. The Hero of Termina. The hero of countless other lands."

Although Malon had just met this thing, on hearing this, out of all the things it had said she knew this was the one thing that wasn't a lie. It was a bit surprising to hear, but not as much as she realized. She knew, after all, and now more clearly than ever, that it had been true. Perhaps she had always believed it in her heart even if her mind told her it was fantasy, but she believed it just the same. Somehow she knew that as impossible as his story was, the 'fairy boy' was neither lying nor crazed. He really was all those things. But as the last shred of doubt was removed from her, she nevertheless was stunned. Her conscious mind grasped everything he said. All of the battles. All of the nightmares. All of the nameless horrors. From one apocalypse to another, he had endured it all.

It could not be otherwise. No other series of adventures could have left him looking so hollow when he came.

"Countless lifetimes of misery and toil have been put upon him. Countless stresses and cares amounting to more than any normal man could withstand. He's made friends and allies, but never were the goddesses content to leave him there. He's found places to rest, but never to be at rest. Each was designed to be uncomfortable. Each companion was designed to abandon him. Each one designed to forget him. Each one made to drive him, by action or inaction, into the next land. So that there would be other deeds to do and perform. Other wars to fight. And once the last of them were done and every last bit of use had been taken from him, he had nothing left. No purpose. No meaning. No greater design. Just a broken doll who is worthless to everyone."

Now, Malon felt herself lashing back.

"That's a horrible thing to say! He's not worthless to anyone!"

"He's useless to the goddesses, and therefore he is useless to everyone."

"That's a lie!" She blasted as her face tightened, her anger and bravery overriding her fear. "He's not useless to Epona! He's not useless to the cuccos at the ranch! He wasn't useless to Shanna! And he's not useless to me! He may not be a hero anymore, but he's not trash to be thrown away!"

"The will of the goddesses is all that holds sway in Hyrule. If he is nothing to them, then he is _nothing_ at all." The thing calmly responded. "There was only one purpose left to him now. One last destiny he could perform before he could literally wither away like a dried out husk. He needed to ensure that there would be 'future toys' to be played with, so that the same game that has played before may play again and the goddesses might not lose their favorite pastime. He needed to secure his 'replacement'."

Malon's face was still fuming with anger, but she looked confused at that. "Replacement? What replacement?"

"Don't be so naive, girl. Link must be reborn years from now as a descendant so that his story may repeat. And obviously he can't be reborn unless he sires offspring."

Immediately, Malon's face went blank. Her eyes widened. Before the thing even said another word to remove all doubt, her mind made the connection. She began to realize what had happened. Why he had run...

"He knew this. Either consciously or beginning to accept it, he knew the goddesses were through with him save for that one last duty. After that, he would be less than nothing. Unloved and discarded. Left to rot away and be nothing more than words on a page in history that would also fade with time. So that is why he came here. That is why he heard _their_ call and heeded it, even unwillingly, to be drawn to this place. To try and end things on his own terms. He wasn't fully aware, but his heart and soul were. He was useless now, so he might as well be of some use to the loathsome things of the world. And he let himself start to wither away on the journey for lack of care, finding death preferable to life."

Malon was confused by the word "their". "I don't..."

" _You_ , my dear, made him think that need not be his fate. Those little horses and cuccos you laud so proudly actually made him start to feel he had a life after this. That he could be happy even without the goddesses looking at him and, along with them, Zelda, Navi, Rauru, Impa, Saria, Daruna..." An exhale from the creature. "Hundreds of others I could list that would take too long. But then he realized the inevitability of it all. Even the fact that he had arrived at your ranch was preordained. Oh, he suspected it for some time, of course. There's a reason he's been so cold and distant to you, Malon. He felt his heart stirring inside him. He felt emotions and attachment yet again, as much as he hated its sting after so long. In spite of the fact he couldn't bear to lose anyone else, he felt himself gravitating to you. He tried to deny it with that icy face, but it kept coming. And slowly it started to leak out.

"Yet then you took his hands and told him that, and it was clear to him. The truth became obvious. As much as he tried to flee his fate, he had run right into it. Meeting you was preordained. You were to bear his child."

The rancher girl didn't know whether to be shocked or to turn red on hearing that, or a mixture of both. "Wha...what?"

"And once that was done, he feared that you would break from him again. You would regard him the same way the rest of the world does: as something useless that needs to be discarded. But worse than that, his son and all of his descendants after him would meet the same fate. _You_ would meet the same fate. You would know what it was like to fulfill a purpose and then be garbage. So he decided to flee. And when he did, _they_ called out to him again."

Malon felt herself stiffen as the thing spoke to her. That answered everything now. The last part of the mystery that she felt was there. And for a moment, she realized what she was hearing and that Link's fear might not have been unjustified. Everyone else had left him. Over the past seven years she might have been the only one around town or the village who had even asked about him. No one else seemed to even notice he had ever been there. And if that was the case, then a dark possibility arose in her mind. What if she did the same? What if, once Link had done his "purpose" with her, she turned the same way? Abandoned him? Grew cold? Left him miserable? And what if she shared in his fate?

 _No. No, I won't believe it._

Yet before the thoughts grew any darker, she shoved them out of her mind. She couldn't believe it. She _wouldn't_ believe it. She didn't know what this thing was saying, but it was something dark and ghastly. Perhaps even evil. Even if it was saying all of these things to her and knew all that had happened, she wouldn't trust it. Her feelings for Link weren't things that had just been planted inside of her. True, she had thought about him more than any other boy, but that was because he was different. Even from the start she saw that he wasn't like other people. That he was meant to be more than the other boys and young men. That he had more to him. She refused to believe that she was just playing a role right now any more than he was.

With that decided, she focused on what else the thing had said.

"Who are 'they'?"

"The wrathful departed of Hyrule. Those who were used by the goddesses and have passed on, yet even in death find no freedom from their eternal fate, for even now they are consumed by their anger at the meaninglessness of their own lives and death. They seek only one thing now: make other souls as miserable as they are. Normally they arise on dark nights in foul times to torment the living. They cling to the misery and darkness of others and feed upon it to grow stronger. Yet the misery within the soul of that young man is far, _far_ greater than that of any mortal. Far more…nutritious, you might say. Enough for them to call him even from across many lands. Enough to draw him here, especially when one is so tired of life they are willing to surrender it to the damned and hollow. Possessing wounds that run so deep and fresh there is nothing that can cure them. They relish this with great delight. Now they have drug him still living into their world, where there is neither light nor warmth, happiness nor joy. And there they will feed on him until he's nothing but another worn out wraith."

Malon gaped in horror.

"It is what he wishes for himself." The thing went on. "Death and misery here, perishing a tortured soul in a forgotten grave, is preferable to living as a corpse and dragging others along to do the same. He is slowly rotting away in that hole by his own volition, Malon."

The rancher girl realized now the magnitude of the danger Link was in. Until now she thought she was coming to save him from his misery, but she had no idea of the full measure of that. Quickly, she turned to the dark hole. As black and empty as it was, she began to walk toward it.

The laughter of the thing made her stop.

"Will you go after him, girl? Then you will share his fate. His soul is a dried out ruin. You cannot save him from it. None can. All you will do is feed the ghouls there from your own misery and then, just as he, be dried out into nothing and join the rest of the corpses."

Malon would have lied if she had boldly retorted that this didn't scare her. The hole was just as empty and dark-looking as it had been a few minutes ago. Even staring at it now, she almost felt as if the warmth was draining from her hands and feet.

But Link was down there.

Tightening her jaw, she began to walk forward.

The laugh again. It was short, but it was also mocking. "Of course you'd go anyway. That's what I love about you all. Threats to your life only make you more stupid. I'll see you among the shades very soon."

Malon paused, forcing herself to grit her teeth again. "If you really thought I'd fail, why would you tell me these things?"

For once, the thing paused. It seemed as if she had actually caught it. Yet in the end, another light chuckle.

"I am chaos, Malon. True chaos means things end up well as often as unwell. Even I enjoy 'getting into the game' every now and then, especially when it means more fun for _me_. Just don't be too sure that what you're doing now wasn't set up long before _you_ ever existed either..."

In spite of herself, Malon found herself turning around at that. "What do you mean?"

But there was no answer, and nothing there to answer her. When she looked back, the shadow was gone. The thing had vanished, and vanished so utterly and without sound or trace. More than that, at once Malon's thoughts began to change. She began to think it was never there at all, that she had just seen a shadow of a tree and imagined it. The words which had been so distinct and made her shudder to hear them suddenly seemed to her as if they had only been the cold wind howling and whistling past the tombstones. Even the fear she felt was now attributed to the dark landscape. She forgot that she had seen a fourth symbol within the emblem of the Triforce or heard tales of the indifference of the three goddesses.

She slowly turned back to the hole, wondering why she had looked away in the first place. She concluded her fear was so strong she was now imagining things were lurking around her. However, her mind shook that free. She didn't need more fears eroding her resolve, and she had stalled too long. Shanna had given her life to go this far, and if she didn't get down there Link would give his own. Thinking no more of the strange fancy of a dark goddess mocking her through the unnatural night, she advanced to the hole. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside.

It was as if she had walked into another time or season. It was cold, but it was not fair to say it was a wintry feeling. Winter had a crispness about it; a freshness and natural air. This was a feeling of clamminess and dankness; feeling everything that was associated with rot and decay. More heat seemed to be drained from her until she shuddered again, and yet for all the cold it was still wet and dank; her footsteps squishing against the rotten ground. As she advanced, it only stayed that way with an odor of must and mildew about her. And the darkness came over her, surrounding her completely until she was lost in blackness, although somehow she realized she could keep going on. Soon she was far within and away from the rain, and yet it was still wet down here. Still dead and foul. And for all the coldness it stayed wet. Her hands and toes began to feel numb as she went deeper, yet she would not stop.

As she forced herself to move in deeper and darkness continued to loom about, she felt her mind beginning to fill with dark thoughts. Thoughts of being deep underground where only the dead dwelt. Images of forgotten bare bones and corpses. Feelings of what would happen if she saw Link dead as well as Shanna. Yet those grew worse. She began to see images of her departed mother, looking so sick and feeble and weak toward the end. Seeing her laid into the ground, so dark and gray that it was almost clay, and mounded up with earth on which no flower would ever grow and the sky would cover with endless gray rains. Thinking of her down there, a rotten, worm-eaten skeleton, alongside the bones of Link, the bones of Shanna, and the bones of a girl with a light-colored shawl and red hair that had rotted out-

Malon gave a start and shook her head violently. The fear in her surged. She knew what was happening. This place was not only draining the warmth from her, but all sense of hope and light in her. Her mother hadn't been so withered and gray when she died, and there were flowers growing over where she lay to this day. But the place was trying to drain that memory from her. Even as she dwelt in the darkness, she realized she was having a hard time remembering what the sun looked like, or the warmth of fire, or the breezes of spring. She could barely think of them here. Worse than that, she realized she was starting to wonder, just a little bit, if she had just imagined them to begin with.

That fear was the worst, and she quickly burst forward, thinking of as many "pleasant" things as she could. The sounds of hooves tramping as the horses ran about the track. Warm young cuccos in her hands. The sun coming over the horizon on a fresh new day at the ranch.

And, like a spell had been broken, or at least weakened, the darkness parted before her. She emerged at last into a chamber.

There was no light source in this place. There were broken torch sconces and pillars, but they had long since been extinguished. Yet somehow she could still see. The walls, rough and ancient and crumbling, were illuminated with a blue hue that looked neither natural nor purely phantasmic. Stretching before her in semi-regular rows were the sole items of the chamber: stone caskets. Each one like an ancient sarcophagus. Each one rotten and covered with all sorts of loathsome growth that could hardly be thought of as normal moss or decay. It seemed to almost squelch and ooze only when Malon walked toward it, as if reacting to her. It made her slow in her step to look over it, realizing she had truly crossed into a forgotten tomb in which no living thing should have been. The cold had traveled through her hands and feet now and the dark thoughts were pushing in on her, beginning to rise over her mind when she stopped thinking of "pleasant things". She quickly glanced about while she still had her wits.

All of the stone caskets were sealed now, save one far in the back. The lid was ajar on it, but half resting on the box.

Ignoring the others, perhaps even trying _not_ to look at them or anything else in this chamber, Malon ran to the open casket. It was deep, and she could not see inside until she was practically upon it. But once she did, she quickly ran the rest of the way.

There was Link.

While there was still "meat" on his frame from Malon's care, in all other respects he had returned to being what he was when he arrived. His skin was pale almost to being white, and his face, even now as he was asleep, unconscious, or worse, was sunken not from lack of food but from lack of vigor and will. He was still now. The color and life had so drained from him that he honestly already looked like a corpse. No breath came from him. No sign of life whatsoever. It seemed as if the only thing left to do was to shove the lid over him and be done.

For a heartbeat, Malon's fears flared. Enough to where tears began to form in her eyes on seeing him like this, fearing she had been too late. The darkness rushed on her mind immediately. It began to warp her vision. See him as already withered and rotten. Already a long-dead corpse. Clothing worn out, lips receded and nails protruding, gone from her forever this time to rot forever in this hole...

A spark in her mind dispelled the vision. _The hole was still open and the casket uncovered. If he was gone, they'd both have been sealed..._

 _He's not dead yet. He can't be..._

"Link!" She forced herself to shout.

Like a magic incantation, the image in her mind was shattered. Link again looked like a corpse, but only a freshly-dead one. In spite of that, she reached out with her own numb hands and fingers and seized him by the shoulders. "Link, get up! Get out of there!"

He was as cold as a corpse too. Not the slightest bit of warmth or life inside of him. He was even deader weight than he had been when he arrived. She couldn't budge him out of the casket. It was as if he was a part of it now.

It didn't stop her from trying. "Link! Wake up! You have to wake up! You're not dead, Link! Come on!"

Her urging had no impact. He remained still as stone. And why should he? Why should a corpse react no matter how much you yelled at it? Even her own freezing hands seemed to grow colder touching him.

"Link, wake up! Please! Please get out of there! Ple..."

Malon trailed off in the middle of touching him. She had heard something. Specifically...many things.

Looking up to the chamber, she gave a gasp that sent a cloud of misty breath out from her. The rest of the stone coffins were opening. The stone lids were being pushed aside off of each and every one. When that happened, the edges of the room began to grow darker; the sign of a black shadow starting to close in. And when it did, and darkness claimed the corners and edges of the room, she saw something else in there.

Pairs of lights. They were neither warm nor comforting, but hollow and spectral. And they glared at her like burning eyes. She looked into one of them once, and immediately thoughts of death and misery began to wash over her. Images of everything she treasured ruined...all of her work and life's pursuits decaying...all of her dearly loved turned into rotting corpses now emerging from their caskets...

She quickly broke her gaze away, and let out a gasp. She felt she had nearly been choked. Even free of it, the darkness hung over her like a cloud of depression. She forced it back as she pulled at Link more frantically. "Link! Please! We have to leave here now! They're coming for us! You have to get up!"

No reaction. He remained as still as the dead. Meanwhile, the shadows grew around her. As they did, more lights joined the ones already present. They began to near with the darkness, slowly revealing ghastly forms clad in rotten rags holding lanterns with bleak, unholy candles from which no light or joy could ever be found. The sounds of hollow, ancient breathing as cold as a wintry gale over a sepulcher began to issue through the chamber. The lids finished opening, and Malon risked a glance, only to see rotten, decaying hands slowly coming out of them. Their skin as withered and thin as dried-out meat with spots of rot and fungus growing on them. The horrid stench from the boxes slammed her nostrils, and as it did...she felt her dearest childhood memories wink out of existence. All thoughts of the joy and mirth of her youth were gone, replaced only by memories of all of the losses she had endured, from the first horse that she had watched die to her own mother's passing. Try as she might, she could remember nothing but sadness and misery.

Worse than that, that was forcing itself into her brain, making her think _only_ of that.

Time was running out.

Malon leaned more over into the casket, forcing her numb hands and forearms around Link as if to pry him out from the bottom of the casket and pulling as hard as she could. It was useless. He might as well have weighed as much as the entire graveyard.

"Link...please..." She spoke, her enthusiasm and energy already starting to fade from her voice. Even trying to get Link out was draining her remaining strength, and the darkness and despair quickly filled the voice. "We have to go... They're coming for us..."

No answer. Not the slightest change.

"Link, I know you think this is all that's left, but it isn't..." She insisted. "You don't belong here. You still have more living to do. You still have more purpose..."

No reaction. Malon risked a look up again.

To her horror, ghastly things, moaning inhumanly from the remains of their lungs, were now out of the coffins and were slowly approaching. They were advancing only very slowly, but they _were_ closing. The wraiths hovered about them and came in with the darkness as well. The entrance Malon had come in from was now gone...and, for the life of her, she couldn't remember if there had ever been an entrance to begin with. She began to feel there had never been anything but this tomb in all the world.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. Not seeing the horrible things around her robbed them of the chance to dominate that part of her senses, although her despair was mounting again. She kept seeing more death and rot around her. She now was beginning to feel a new desire in her: to give up, lie down, and be one of the dead herself...

"You're scared..." She forced herself to say, even though her voice was down to just a normal tone in spite of her attempts to cry out. "You think that the only thing you're good for is being a hero. You think it's the only way people will come to you. But that's not true... Link, I never knew you were a hero. I never knew how important you were to everyone. I just knew you were special...and you stayed in my mind for seven years even though I barely knew you... I wouldn't have forgotten you, Link... You know that... You told me...I remembered you...even in that world where there were no dreams or happiness to be found... I may not have recognized you at first, but...I would have known you..."

The shadow was closing in now. She was hopelessly surrounded by the dead and damned. Malon felt dizzy. It was getting harder to think of anything except darkness and despair. She pulled at Link one more time, but it was no good. Her hands and arms were as cold and hard as him now. Her own strength was rapidly failing. She couldn't pull him back anymore, so she did the only thing she could.

Pushing out with the strength in her legs, she shoved her entire upper body _into_ the coffin. Enough to push her cheek up to Link's. Unlike her arms, her cheek was still warm and alive. She could feel the cold of his own skin as they touched.

"I won't forget you, Link..." Her voice was getting quiet now. "I won't grow distant. I won't think of you as someone to 'throw away'. I won't abandon you. You mean everything to me. You did...ever since I met you... I swear I'll always be here... I swear...you'll always be a hero...to me...even if you just...feed cuccos..."

Malon could barely think at all now. Her thoughts were only unhappy and dark. She had said 'cuccos', but she no longer remembered what those things were. She no longer remembered the sun or anything happy or delightful, save the feelings she had when she saw Link again. But those were fading as well. All she could think about was darkness and misery. The warmth in her cheek was fading. Her own pallor was beginning to turn ashy. The light in her eyes began to dim. As the dead closed in around them, the light began to fade all together. Between her own dimming vision and the light fading, Link's still-dead and hollow face remained blank.

Distantly, she almost felt she heard the sound of earth filling in a hole.

It was hopeless. She never should have come. Link was dead, and she would soon be dead as well. All was death and misery.

Yet in spite of this crushing thought removing the last of her spirit, she pushed herself into him as close as she could and croaked out a whisper.

"If I'd forget you...then why am I...the only one...who came to rescue _you_ for once...?"

No answer, and it no longer mattered. Malon could no longer think of Link. She could no longer think of anything but fear, darkness, and despair. Crushing, bleak, and dark around her. She only wanted to lay here and lose the last of her life in here. She only wanted to be still and die...wallow in the misery and loneliness for the rest of eternity... Her thoughts and senses went to black oblivion as the last warmth and vigor left her, her own heart and breath slowing as she started to become a corpse as well...

But before it could seize her all together, she felt a sensation. It was dull, and in her muddled state she didn't know where it was coming from. She only found it annoying, like a person in a snowdrift freezing to death finds it unwelcome at first to feel warmth on them for it disturbs them from their fatal sleep. But it kept coming, and as it did her wits slowly came back to life. When they did, she realized she was no longer lying still. Her body was in motion, some force propelling it. The distant noise of angry groans and moans went off around her. She thought she felt the dull sensation of things clawing for her but finding no purchase. Her eyelids slowly sensed light on the other side of them.

Slowly, she realized she was being carried by something or someone. As her wits continued to register, she realized it was bearing her away at a running gait. The rest of her senses came flowing back to her as she let out a gasp, once again feeling as if she had been smothered until now. Her heart surged in her with such power it made her twist. She realized it had nearly stopped until a moment ago. Her eyes flew open, and she looked about.

She saw only darkness. But it wasn't the same bleak, lifeless light as before; at least, not exactly. She realized it was the gloom from the tunnel leading into the ground. Not only that, but it was rapidly breaking. Ahead of her, the darkness of the rainy night was nearing, and yet even that dark seemed bright enough to illuminate into the forgotten hole she was in. The feelings of summer wind and the sensation of fresh rain began to waft back over her. Such a gloomy and miserable thing had never felt so refreshing and welcome to her. Even that seemed to infuse warmth and vigor back into her, and soon she felt strong enough to get up and run herself. But before she could, she looked up to who was bearing her out.

The lightning flashed at about the same time, and she saw his face. The wan pallor was gone. Color even now seemed to be flowing back into him, and even his grip had regained his warmth. Link's blue eyes were open and more focused and fierce than Malon had ever seen them. That was only natural, however.

She had never seen him before moving with the intent to save someone.

The look actually made her pause, forgetting whatever she was going to say. Link was a different man in that moment. She saw the same fire in him that she had seen in Shanna; the look of a person in their element and carrying out what they were born to do. In that moment, he was the Hero of Time, Hyrule, Termina, and everywhere else. In that moment, she was being carried out by a legend.

The two finally broke free into the stormy night. The rain had intensified again, but it was welcome from that crypt. He didn't stop once out but carried her farther, all the way to where Epona had been waiting. The mare brayed and kicked up again, but it was a shout for joy on seeing Link and Malon both alive and rushing out to her. Malon heard a howl echoing in the hole as they emerged, and felt an icy chill cling to her. It was as if the damned were trying one last time to yank them both back in. But Link kept charging until both were fully broken from the gloom and the last of the dark thoughts were dispelled. Malon felt her memories of life and joy come back to her. She could again see the ranch, hear the sounds of the horses neighing, feel the warmth of the new chicks, and, especially, the look of the fairy boy who came to her seven years ago. She was out.

They both were.

Link halted at Epona's side. Once there, he hung, keeping his arms up and panting. His gasps sounded both of physical strain as well as relief, like someone who had wandered into mortal peril without knowing and was now free of it. He didn't move anymore, and Malon was left in his arms a moment. As time ticked by and the rain fell on them both, gradually the relief she felt of it being over was replaced by more embarrassment. She blushed a bit, before slowly beginning to lower herself. Link's arms complied, letting her down, and soon her shoes touched the mud and she stood up, turning fully to him.

The two faced each other a moment, and were both silent save for both of them breathing a bit from their scrape with death. They looked into each other's eyes, but neither said anything. They didn't know what to say after all of that. That event hadn't been something neither expected...but one thing was true. Both had been surprised to find the other one there.

Yet now that both were out, both of them were fully realizing how glad they were to see the other one.

The grim look was gone on Link's face. It was more blank now. More uncertain. As if he had intended his life to go one way and it ended up going another. Malon, on her part, finally smiled. As warm and friendly as they day when they met. She reached out and placed her hands on his face, smiling more when she felt warmth in them. Seeing him alive and awake. She almost laughed to see him there. Link opened his mouth once or twice, but nothing came out. He still didn't know what to say. Neither did she, however, and she didn't care. He was here. That was all that mattered right now.

"Malon...what...where...?" His voice was nearly an exhale.

"It's alright, Link. You're out. You're here. You're free of them." She answered, running her hand along his face. She smiled more. "You're warm..."

The young man hesitated, blinking, before he suddenly raised his own hand and put it over Malon's. For a moment, his eyes closed, as he seemed to feel her own warmth. His hand was still a bit cold, but it warmed the rest of the way quickly. She had no idea what was running through his mind right now. What she hoped he was seeing was that she was there. She was real. She hadn't forgotten him or let him go like the others. That if he only dreamed what she had been telling him in that tomb, that it was a dream he had awakened into reality.

His eyes opened. "You...you could have..."

She took a step forward, leaving her hands where they were. "I didn't care. I told you...I won't abandon you. Not ever, but especially not now."

The young man blinked, staring back at her. He still didn't look particularly happy, but his gloom remained gone. His eyes had a light in them now. A curious one, an uncertain one, and perhaps one that was still fearful of it; but bearing the light of hope in it. A thing he had not had in quite some time. Something he had given up risking, but now wondered if he could again. An opportunity to have a life. An opportunity even to love...

The wind suddenly howled. It was biting and cold, and when it came Link's face had a shadow come over it. It didn't drain his color as last time, but it did make the light in his eyes dim. For a moment, he began to turn his head back to the open grave...

With gentleness and yet firmness, Malon turned his head back to her.

"Link...I always hated those stories where the hero rides off into the sunset."

He didn't move. His look didn't change, but he didn't try to look back to the gravestone. Malon smiled a bit more encouragingly as she brought her head closer.

"Don't you think it would be nicer if the hero settled down and lived happily ever after?"

The young man hesitated. The breath in his throat seemed to catch. Malon continued to stand and wait, smiling at him. Her hands were still resting on his cheeks, but she no longer tried to force him to look one way or another. She just held and waited.

Finally, he reacted. The light in his eyes returned. Not only that, it surged, and his face finally broke. Very slowly, as if afraid that doing so would somehow curse the moment after so long, he managed to smile again. Then his arms went up, around Malon's waist, and pulled her forth the rest of the way into a kiss.

Malon's eyes widened in surprise to suddenly find her lips meeting Link's. She had never kissed another boy before, and never wanted to. Yet it lasted only a heartbeat before her eyes closed, her hands left his cheeks for his neck and shoulders, and she pulled him in as tightly as she could. The two continued to kiss throughout it. The cold wind blew again, groaning through the trees like something living, even angry now, but it was useless. Malon couldn't hear them anymore. The warmth that rose from both of them banished the last trace of gloom or cold about them. Where Malon's heart seemed clutched by fear until now, it surged warmer and stronger than ever.

She wasn't sure how long they held, only that it would never have been long enough to Malon. The dark and ghastly row of headstones in the middle of the dark and foreboding night had suddenly turned into the most wonderful place in the world. But finally they broke. One set of opposite arms slipped free of the other one, so that both were now at each other's side and holding each other as close as they could yet were still able to walk. With that, they slowly abandoned the grave and went back to Epona. Malon pulled the end of her cape around Link as best as she could, for he hadn't taken anything with him when he left, and then rested her head against his shoulder as they went away.

The wind howled one last time over them both, giving one last attempt to get him to turn. However, Link didn't change this time. His head remained aimed away from the grave. His arm remained tight around Malon's shoulders. His smile remained right where it was.

And as the two untethered Epona and began to climb onto her to make the long trip back to Lon Lon Ranch, the earth groaned behind them as the hole in the ground collapsed on itself, vanishing forever.

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

* - Different cultures all have a different word for a feral horse, with the one in the United States being "mustang". Since one word seemed as good as another, that's the one I used.


End file.
